


Drink While The Water Is Clean

by JYNXXX



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Historical, Angst, Knotting, M/M, Mpreg, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-10-07 01:10:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 42,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10349064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JYNXXX/pseuds/JYNXXX
Summary: Joshua's life flipped in a moment, the second he was determined to be the King's new consort. The Gods he once prayed to where tossed aside as he found a new God, the most beautiful God the world had to offer. His body which had never once been touched, was now constantly caressed by pairs of hands that tugged and tugged on him until he gave away everything they asked of him. Where once before he never thought of committing sin, he now indulged in it happily since it brought smiles to his lovers faces.Joshua's life changed within a moment; the moment he made a deal with a devil in disguise.





	1. Chapter 1

Preface: Information about this world and story.

**In this world…**

There are both humans and beasts. They despise one another and have separated themselves into their own Kingdoms, which are nearly always at war with one another. Beasts despise humans because they believe there are inferior forms of themselves. They wish to enslave the humans and some even believe humans should be their pets.

The humans fight with the beasts so that they may maintain their freedom. Although the beasts are stronger, the humans are cleverer and so far the humans have won every war.

**Name of country: Sylbania**

Sylbania is the largest Kingdom full of humans and it is also the wealthiest. It is controlled by King Seungcheol and it is currently at war with many different beasts clans that try to invade its borders.

The hierarchy in Sylbania goes as such:

  1. King (Usually referred to as King or Majesty)
  2. Empress (His first wife or husband)
  3. Highness (Second wife/husband. Some people also refer to this position as the King’s consort although it’s not considered the formal name.)
  4. Any concubines the King takes. (All Concubines must first be approved by the Empress. Meaning if the Empress does not want the King to have any concubines, they just won’t approve any of them.)



**Difference in this story’s “humans”:**

The humans in this story are not like “us”. You can think of them as more like partial werewolves. They don’t change when there is a full moon or anything but they do have retractable fangs and some even have claws.

They also age differently. They age much faster so instead of being pregnant for 9 months, they are only pregnant for 6 before giving birth. The children also grow much faster and are generally only considered “children” for about two to three years. By then they usually have reached full physical maturity. Although emotionally and mentally they are considered young.

**Humans Mating:**

All females are able to reproduce normally. For males, omegas are only able to birth children but cannot impregnate others. Most beta males can impregnate others but cannot give birth themselves. However, there is still a decent size population of beta males that _are_ capable of giving birth as well as impregnation. Alpha males are only capable of impregnating others but are not able to give birth to children.

However, it should be noted that both omega males and beta males have a harder time than women becoming pregnant. Also, only Alpha males have a knot.

**Pheromones and Heat Cycle:**

**Alphas:** alphas give off very strong pheromones which can cause strong reactions within both betas and omegas. They have the most strength and are known for being more hot-tempered and impulsive. They have the best sense of smell and can easily smell the difference between a beta and omega even when they aren’t in heat. They are also the second smallest population.

                        **Heat Cycle: once every year to two years.** (alphas tend to have more frequent heat cycles when they are around more betas or omegas. Some alphas can even suddenly enter a heat cycle if they are around an omega or beta that has entered one.)

            **Betas:** They are the largest population. They tend to be stronger than omegas but much weaker than alphas. They have the weakest scent and are known for having more laid-back personalities. They can sometimes smell an omega’s scent, but usually they can only detect it when the omega is in heat. They can easily tell who an alpha is though.

                        **Heat cycle: Once every 6 months.**

            **Omegas:** even when they are not in heat they give off pheromones. They cannot control their own pheromones so they have to worry about it spiking when they are out in public; since that can sometimes send alphas or betas after them. They are the smallest population and tend to be the weakest. However, most omegas are very well liked and are usually very successful business people. Just like betas, they can easily detect who an alpha is.

**Heat cycle: Once every 3 months.**

**The Bond/Knotting Process**

This can only be done between an alpha and his partner must be a beta or omega. The alpha bites the back of his partner’s neck while they are in heat, and this leaves a permanent mark. Or the process can be done while the alpha is in heat after he has already knotted his partner.

When this process is done, the beta or omega has a permanent scent place upon them by the alpha, which signals to everybody else that they are claimed and not to be touched.


	2. Chapter 2

“Joshua, when you are done with that patient can you come help me over here with this one?”

I gave a quick nod over my shoulder to one of the many nurses running around trying their best to help each new bloodied person that was brought in through the front door. “I’ll be there in a second.”

I turn back to the man lying before me, quickly stitching up the wound on his shoulder before wrapping it up in bandages. I could tell he had a small fever and hoped the herbs I gave him earlier would settle that. He quickly fell asleep the moment he was brought in; most likely due to exhaustion and blood loss.

I got up and washed my hands for what felt like the hundredth time now and made my way over to another new patient. This would be my 20th one, in only a span of two hours. Our small and humble church was now stockpiled high with wounded soldiers. They all had just come back from a huge battle, and needless to say all the other churches and doctor homes were just as cramped as us. The best we could do was apply what little knowledge we had about healing, and then pray to the gods that they will let these men see another day.

I shake my head as exhaustion starts to grip me, and focus on the task at hand. The man had lost his arm, and it was a miracle he had made it all the way back here without bleeding to death. But it was obvious the wound was infected and he wouldn’t live through the night. I gave him numbing herbs and hoped that at least his last few moments in this world won’t be too painful.

I shook my head and got up and washed my hands once again before moving on to another patient. It was early morning when all the soldiers were being brought in, but the chaos didn’t calm down until late afternoon.

One of the nurses noticed I was struggling to keep my eyes open and quickly hurried over and told me to get some rest. I told her I was fine but she insisted I at least take a small nap before returning to my duties. Not having enough energy to fight her; I nodded weakly and made my way over to the main entrance.

I was already picturing my warm bed and snuggling up nice and deep under the covers when I was practically barreled into by Seungkwan. “Jisoo!”

I jerk and shush him harshly, “We have patients trying to sleep in here Seungkwan and plus this is a church, why are you screaming?”

He held up a piece a paper and panted harshly as he tried to catch his breath. It looked like he had just run a marathon and it nearly took him a good minute or two before he could stand properly and speak to me. “Did you get one too?”

I shake my head in confusion, “Get what?”

Seungkwan’s eyes practically bugged out from his head, “Did you get a notice?! An invitation to the ceremony tomorrow? From the King?!”

I raise an eyebrow, “No, I have not and I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Look look look look look!” He shoves the paper in my face and points, “The King is making it mandatory- MANDATORY Jisoo! MANDATORY!”

I roll my eyes, “Yes Seungkwan, I can read. Now please continue.”

“Okay okay. The King is making it mandatory that all betas capable of pregnancy and all omegas are to report in their finest attire to the main castle to be looked upon as eligible as the King’s future consort!” He turns to me with excitement on his face, “You know what this means right?”

I let out a tired sigh, “It means you will be showing yourself off to the King tomorrow?”

“Not just me but you too!”

I let out a scoff, “I wasn’t given an invitation like you, so no; I will not be attending.”

Seungkwan let out a horrified gasp and clutches at his chest; “But Jisoo! It’s MANDATORY! If you disobey you are going against the King!”

I pinch the bridge of my nose as I start to feel a headache start to pulse in my temples, “Well, I can’t attend without an invitation so I guess that means I can’t…go.” Just as I spoke those words, I turn to the door to see a royal imperial officer standing there, with a letter in his hand that looked quite similar to the one Seungkwan kept shoving in my face.

The officer bows before me and I return it politely. “Are you Joshua Hong?”

I swallow and nod, “Yes sir, I am.”

He smiles and hands me the letter before politely bowing once again and leaving. Seungkwan creeps up beside me and wiggles his eyebrows at me. “Oh my, it seems like you just received a letter from the King himself! Oh, I wonder what it could be?”

I close my eyes and hang my head in defeat, “Why me?”

Seungkwan scoffs, “You should be happy! Do you know how many people get to see the palace up close? Do you know how many people get to meet the King? This is a chance of a lifetime!”

I shake my head at Seungkwan, “It’s not like we are even going to be chosen.”

Seungkwan nods and shrugs his shoulders, “True, we probably aren’t going to be chosen but think of this as a chance to pretend we are royalty! Just for a day we get to dress up and meet the King and see the palace! We get to spend a nice day in a fairytale before going back to our regular lives. That doesn’t sound too bad, right?”

I smile and nod, “You’re right, that’s not too bad. You really know how to turn a situation around and make it positive now don’t you?”

He sends me a playful wink, “That’s what I’m here for!...Actually, I’m here to help you find an outfit to wear for tomorrow…”

I blink and tilt my head, “An outfit?”

He’s silent for a moment before nodding his head, “Yes, an outfit. You have to dress nice if you are going to meet the King. You can’t be showing up in front of him in the rags you wear, covered in old bloodstains now can you?”

I frown and look down at my clothes and shrug, “I have a few nice outfits for special events.”

Seungkwan shakes his head, “No you don’t.”

My jaw drops, “Yes I do!”

“Pffttt, sweetheart I have seen your closet before and it hurt my soul. No, you are coming to my store now and we are getting you a new outfit.”

I shake my head, “Seungkwan your store is too expensive for me, I can’t afford that stuff.”

Seungkwan shrugs, “You don’t have to. You only need the outfit for a day, just borrow it for tomorrow and then return it to me.”

I raise my eyebrows, “Is that okay?”

“Sure!” Seungkwan shrugs a shoulder, “This is what friends do, right?”

He winks before grabbing my hand and quickly dragging me out the door. I sigh as we pass by the small living quarters next to the church; which is where my warm bed keeps calling out to me. However, my much needed nap will have to wait.

I let Seungkwan lead the way as we wind up at the front of his clothing shop, which is actually quite successful and very much expensive. I never shop at stores like this one, mainly because I don’t have the money and secondly, it would be a waste to buy such nice fabric only to have someone bleed all over it later.

As we step in, I sigh at all the pretty colors and designs. The workers barely spare me a glance but the second they see their boss, they are all smiles and provide him with warm welcomes and ask him how his day has been. He doesn’t spare them much attention and instead pushes me towards the back of the store and starts pulling pieces of clothing out and throwing them at me.

“Ack! What are you doing?”

Seungkwan sends me an innocent look, “What? I’m giving you clothes to try on.”

I look down at the random pieces of fabric in my hand and splutter, “I don’t even know how to put these on…”

Seungkwan’s face drops and he looks at me with deadness in his eyes, “You are so hopeless, what am I ever going to do with you?”

He sighs and starts helping me try on stuff. At first we bickered a lot as he kept trying to give me elaborately designed outfits and they were just…too much. I had to explain to him that I like simplicity.

Seungkwan sighs in annoyance, “You want simplicity but you can’t be too simple! You’re meeting royalty here, you gotta spice it up a bit!”

I sigh in defeat, “I don’t know! The patterns and designs just seem like they are too much.”

Seungkwan scratches his chin before smiling at me and making a happy ‘aha!’. “I have the perfect outfit for you! I didn’t think about it cause its relatively cheap and usually you should wear something much more expensive for this sort of occasion; but I think you can pull it off.”

He comes back and helps me quickly get into the outfit before shoving me to stand in front of the mirror. The shirt was red with a very simple black and gold design on it; however, it had no sleeves and exposed much of my back. It was only held up by some strings that tied in a knot behind my neck, and then some that tied at my lower back securing the bottom portion of the shirt. The black pants I was wearing were extremely tight and laid very low on the hips, and to top it off I was given a gauzy red shawl that didn’t really hide much.

“Seungkwan this…this shows a lot of skin.”

He nods; not seeing the problem with any of it. “Yea, you said the designs were too complicated but this one is really simple. But to keep things interesting it shows a bit more of the body.”

I swallow, “Um…but is this really appropriate to wear in front of the King?”

Seungkwan shrugs, “He’s looking for a consort, right? That means he just wants to have another person in his bed, so showing some skin might be a good thing. I mean, it’s kinda what he’s looking for, isn’t it?”

I think about it for a second before shrugging a shoulder, “I guess you’re right…”

\-----------------------

The next morning, I got up early and headed over to Seungkwan’s shop. He helped me with both my clothes, makeup, and hair to which I was thankful for since I had no experience with any of them. I waited as he then got himself ready, and then we headed off to the royal palace.

Seungkwan’s outfit had the same color scheme as my own, but had a much more detailed pattern on it and didn’t expose nearly as much skin as my own. The short sleeves exposed his arms and the tight bodice outlined his figure. I thought he looked much more appealing than myself, but I suppose that was normal. Omegas always tend to be more appealing than others…something about their scent, the way they walk, sometimes even the way they breathe is just…appealing.

As we near the gates, I notice the large crowd out front and my jaw nearly hits the floor.

“Are these…is the King really planning to meet all these people today?”

Seungkwan shakes his head, “Of course not. They showed up cause it’s mandatory for them to have done so; but most will be turned away at the door.”

I look around curiously, “Why do you say that?”

Seungkwan grabs my arm and leads me through the crowd to one of the many lines leading up to the front gates where people were being inspected. “The King has a criterion of what sort of people he wants to meet.”

“A criterion?”

Seungkwan nods, “They will first inspect your health, make sure you got all your teeth and show no signs of health problems. They don’t want to hand some sickly person over the King, y’know?” I nod, supposing that in some ways that makes sense. “Second, they will look at your age and gender.”

I frown, “Why age and gender?”

“Well, all omegas and betas capable of pregnancy are present here but that doesn’t mean all of them have come of age yet. The King probably set an age limit so no one too young or too old can get in. He doesn’t want a child or someone nearing the age of 90 in his bed.”

I nod but again furrow my brows, “Why gender then?”

Seungkwan smirks and slides his eyes over to me, “It’s known all over in these lands the King prefers the company of men over women. No ladies will be permitted in, since he won’t be interested in them.”

I feel a look of surprise flit across my face, “I did not know that about the King…”

Seungkwan shrugs, “Well, you’ve only just moved into these parts about a year or two ago. It’s no surprise you don’t know everything.”

The line progresses forward and step by step we near the massive gates. I feel my nerves start to take over and I try to calm my breathing down. I look around, trying to find something to distract myself with. I glance over to the front of the lines, where I’ve noticed with increasing curiosity that more people were being turned away than they were being let in. As Seungkwan had said, not a single woman was permitted through and many older and younger citizens were also dismissed.

One woman even tried to cause a scene when they told her to leave, but the second one of the guards came forward to escort her out; she quickly slinked away in fear. I wasn’t surprised by the sudden change in demeanor; even from this distance I could tell the guard was an alpha from his heavy scent. Needless to say, I would probably have had the same reaction as her.

“The King is such a lucky fuck, isn’t he?”

I jerk at the voiced words and peer over my shoulder at a pair of guards that were only a couple feet away from Seungkwan and myself. They scanned the crowd with their predatory gazes and bared their fangs in delight at all the pretty omegas and betas standing before them.

“He gets to have all these whores laid out in front of him and can play with them as he pleases. Do you think that’s fair? Damn, he’s such a lucky bastard.”

I crinkled my nose at their profanity and turn my head back around to the front; hoping to ignore them but their distinct voices continued to flow to my ears.

“What I wouldn’t do to be in his spot for at least a day. Do you know how many girls and boys I would fuck, just because I know I could get away with it?”

The other one lets out a rough laugh, “Man, you wouldn’t even get to fuck any girls since he doesn’t keep any around him. Doesn’t like the smell of them or something.”

The one with a husky voice scoffs, “That’s fine if he doesn’t want any girls, that just means there’s more for us to play with.” They let out a round of raucous laughter and disgust bubbles up in me.

“Those guards need to shut up.”

Seungkwan peers over his shoulder quickly before returning his gaze to my own, “Don’t say anything and ignore them. You don’t want to cause a scene.”

I huff, “Someone should say something to them.”

Seungkwan gives me a hard look, “And that person doesn’t need to be you.”

I sigh and we continue to move forward in line but the increased distance doesn’t make the guards’ voices any less harder to hear.

“I’m surprised he is even doing this. Don’t you remember when he was younger and he caused that whole drama where he refused to marry anyone but the Empress?”

The other one snorted, “Oh yea, I remember. He use to spout about how Empress Jeonghan was the only one he could ever love and he would never think to take anyone else by his side. And yet here he is a couple years later, looking for something new and improved to play with. Hahaha, I’m not surprised though. He’s a man through and through.”

The other one agrees, “Talking about being a man, I feel bad for whichever one of these poor, unfortunate souls get picked by him. They will spend the rest of their life just like the Empress has. Never seeing daylight because he’s hanging from that knot 24/7.” They let out another round of disgusting laughter and by that point I could take no more.

I turn around but before I can say anything Seungkwan claps a hand over my mouth and starts to shove me forward, “No! Don’t say anything! Look, we are at the front of the line, hurry up and go!” He shoves me into the awaiting arms of the inspector, and feeling flustered I quickly pull away from him and fix myself.

He raises and eyebrow but says nothing of it. As Seungkwan had predicted, he asks me to open my mouth and inspects to see that I have all my teeth. He checks to see if I have any other signs of illnesses, and when he deems me healthy he pulls up a list.

“What’s your name?”

I swallow, “Joshua Hong.”

He raises an uninterested brow, “You a foreigner or something? That’s a strange name.”

I nod, “Yes, I’ve lived west of here, until recent years.”

He grunts and checks my name on the list, “You a beta or omega?”

“I’m a beta…is that not obvious by my scent?”

The man shrugs his shoulder and picks up a paintbrush dipped in red paint, “I always like to ask since perfume can sometimes make it hard to tell.” He paints the Hangul for the word love on my hand, and sends me in through the gates.

I wait on the other side for Seungkwan as people continue to pass by me. He flies through inspection and races towards me. I noticed they painted the same words of love on his hand, except they used black instead of red paint. Maybe it was their way of making a distinction between betas and omegas?

“Why are you waiting for me? Come on, let’s hurry up and go!”

Seungkwan, full of energy as always, pulls me forward and we head towards the massive palace laid in front of us. The guards and servants guide us through until we make our way into a giant courtyard. The whole time, both Seungkwan and my own  mouth were open in awe as we gazed at all the beauty the place had to offer. The courtyard had red seating mats laid across the ground, and around 50 people were already there. Seungkwan and I find our own spot, and then we wait.

Over the course of a couple hours, another 50 young males were escorted in, all dressed beautifully and smelling like freshly scented flowers. By this point, I was incredibly hungry and tired of just sitting there doing nothing.

I poke Seungkwan in the side, “What exactly are we waiting for?”

He jerks himself awake and I nearly laugh at how amusing his reaction is. I didn’t even notice he had fallen asleep sitting next to me. “What? What’s going on? What were you saying?”

I shake my head and let out a chuckle, “I wanna know why we are just all sitting here. What are we waiting for?”

Before Seungkwan can supply me with an answer, the courtyard fills with noise of stomping as guards march their way in and line themselves around the perimeter. Everyone, including myself, tenses up and we share concerned and frightened looks as the guards surround us. They stand tall in their shining armor with their weapons glinting in the sun, while we sit there meekly on the cold ground.

A couple servants cross the courtyard in a hurry to the other side, where another door is placed which has been unopened the entire time I have been present here. Now, they pull those large doors open and a slim figure makes its way out into the sunlight. In that moment, my breath was taken from me as my gaze was filled with the sight of what can only be an angel sent from above.

Long, black hair is pulled back into an intricate up-do with two red hair sticks securing it in place. His body is covered with a silken black, short kimono that ends at his upper thigh. Along the long sleeves and bodice there is an intricate golden pattern that weaves its way down. And to accent his thin waist, a blood red sash is wrapped tightly around and tied with a bow in the back, which then a long, red silk train is attached and brushes against the floor.

Scandalously, the angel wears no pants under that silk kimono and instead bears his legs for all to see, which I admit I have never seen anyone brazen enough to do so before. As he comes further into the light and my gaze is able to focus upon him better, I nearly want to sob at the beauty of this man. Such a face does not belong upon any mortal body; and this must mean this man is not of this world. His feminine and gentle features were so irrevocably irresistible; and I wanted nothing more than to give myself to this divine being.

“All bow before the Empress!” Its silent for a moment before all of us situated on the hard ground let our foreheads feel its icy touch as we all bowed as low as we possibly could. We waited until we were given the signal to rise; and again I let my gaze settle on the beauty before me.

I see him take a deep breath, before letting his voice reach our ears, “You have gathered here today so you may be appraised and judged; to see if you are fit to become the King’s future consort. The one to judge you all; and select who will hold this position; will be I.”

Instantly, the courtyard was filled with gasps along with shocked murmurs and whispers. One of the servants screamed at us to be silent in front of the Empress, and instantly a hush fell upon us once more.

He nods slowly and takes another deep breath before speaking. If I had to take a guess, it seemed to me as if the Empress was quite nervous and tense. “The King himself assigned this role to me, and therefore I hope in the end you will respect my decision; as the King thought this was the best course of action to take.”

With that being said, The Empress turned on his heel and made his way back through those large doors. A name was called, and one of the omegas in the front stood up shakily. He followed the Empress through those doors, and instantly I was once again surrounded by hushed whispers.

“Why is the Empress making this decision when it should be the King? We are sharing a bed with the King so shouldn’t he choose what he wants?”

Many others conceded with this person’s words and voiced their own complaints and concerns as well, “Does the King not care about us?”

“Why is he letting the Empress make such an important decision?”

“Do you think the Empress is a jealous bitch who will only let the King take someone else to bed; so long as he gets to decide who it is?”

“If that’s the case, don’t you think the Empress will just choose the ugliest person here?”

Suddenly, Seungkwan breathes a heavy sigh of relief next to me and smiles, “If he _is_ choosing the ugliest person here that means I actually have a chance now of being chosen.”

I scoff and hold back my laughter and instead shake my head at Seungkwan, “Don’t say that Seungkwan, you are very attractive.”

Seungkwan shakes his head playfully, “Oh no, I’m quite a hideous one as you can see. No King will ever want to lay with me which means I’m the perfect person to be chosen!” He smiled cheekily and lets out a small laugh.

My gaze naturally turns to the doors in front of us and I wonder where the angel from before had disappeared into its darkness. “The Empress…” the words leave my lips before I can stop them.

“He’s beautiful, isn’t he?” I turn to Seungkwan and nod, “I’ve hear so many stories about how beautiful he is but this is my first time ever seeing him in person. I guess now I can understand why the King refused to marry anyone else but him.”

My brows furrow, “This King refused to marry anybody else?”

Seungkwan nods and leans back on his hands, “I guess you don’t know the stories because you only just started living here, but when the King was young and was just coming into adulthood, it was expected of him to find someone to marry and then try to bear kids with them. However, the young King Seungcheol who was a prince at the time; refused every omega and beta placed in front of him by his father. He stated that he would take no one else but Empress Jeonghan, who was a mere peasant at the time.”

“A peasant?” The miraculous God that only stood before me seconds ago use to be a peasant?

Seungkwan nods understandably, “Of course, his father did not approve and everyone else thought it was ridiculous he wanted to marry a peasant. But stories go he tricked his father into agreeing to the marriage by dressing Empress Jeonghan in fine silks and wearing the most expensive jewelry; and the King was so amazed by his beauty he instantly let his son marry him; no questions asked. And that’s basically how King Seungcheol got his way and married the person he wanted to.”

“Wow,” for a good minute that’s the only word that can flit through my mind. “I understand why the King did what he did though, for looking at the Empress just now I too feel as if I have just fallen in love.”

Seungkwan splutters beside me and quickly looks around us before shooting me with shocked look, “You can’t just say that, Jisoo! What if someone heard you and said something? What if that somehow got back to the King? No one, and I repeat; NO ONE can love or touch the Empress! Only the King!”

I flush and shake my head quickly, “No no no, I wasn’t saying I want to be with the Empress or anything. I was just saying he’s very beautiful.”

Seungkwan grips my shoulders tightly and nods seriously, “I understand that Jisoo, but be careful about what you say when others can hear; since they might interpret your words wrongly.” I nod seriously and he sighs gently before patting me on the shoulder. “Anyway, the stories are right about the Empress’s beauty…but I still feel very sad for him.”

I shake my head, “Sad? Why do you feel sad?”

Seungkwan puckers his lips at he contemplates his words for a second before responding, “The stories sounded like such fairytales…that they were soul mates and him and the King would love one another until death. And the empress has committed all his duties well, supplying the King with three children in only a couple years even though he is a beta. The Empress is nothing but perfect, and yet here the King is…choosing someone else to share his bed with.”

A sad look crosses my face and I dip my head low, “Why do you think the King would do such a thing?”

Seungkwan hums and tilts his head to the side, “Probably because he needs an alpha son. The Empress has provided him with three children, but two are omegas and the other is a beta. They need an alpha in order to have someone ascend the throne and keep it under the King’s family name. And the Empress…is much older now and chances are he can only bare one more child before he will become infertile. If he fails to become pregnant or doesn’t give birth to an alpha…then the King would have no choice other than to take a consort to his bed.”

I shake my head, “All of this just so he can produce a future heir?”

Seungkwan shrugs, “We are fighting a war right now. Desperate times call for desperate measures. If the King dies in battle, our kingdom will be vulnerable during that period as we search for a new leader.”

Suddenly, a servant comes back out and calls another name. A new person gets up and follows them through the doors. That patterned continued where people would follow the servants through the doors, but they would never come back out. Instead, every couple of minutes the servant would return and would simply call a new name.

The whole process went by surprisingly fast, and before I knew it Seungkwan was being called and he gave me two thumbs up before practically running up to those large doors. I shook my head in amusement as his overabundance of energy, and waited patiently for my turn.

The servant came back and called a few more names before they finally reached mine. I stand up slowly and follow him with great nervousness through those large doors. They led to a dark hallway with no windows, and the only light source was a couple flickering torches here and there. It was cold and my bare arms prickled with goosebumps.

At the end of the hallway were another set of doors, although these ones were much smaller and seemed less heavy than the others. The servant opens only one of them for me; just enough so I can squeeze my body through to the other side.

I was met with a small room that was dimly lit. There was no furniture in it except for a small table, situated in the center of the room. Sitting behind that table was the Empress. My gaze met his and I felt my mouth go dry and my mind go blank. It felt like I stood there for an eternity, simply gazing at him in wonderment. When my mind finally snapped back to reality, my cheeks flushed with shame and I hurriedly bowed myself all the way to the floor. I should have lowered myself like this the second I entered the room, instead of brazenly gazing upon him as I just had. I clench my fists tightly and bite my lip, berating myself for my thoughtless actions.

“You may rise.” His soft voices reaches me and I take a deep breath through my nose before slowly lifting my head. He waves a hand at me to come closer, “Please, come sit.” He gestures to a cushion placed a foot away from the table. I get up and situate myself on the thin cushion but The Empress makes a displeased noise. “No, come move yourself closer. I want you right here.” He points with his finger to a spot right in front of the table.

I swallow thickly, “Yes, Empress.” I get up shakily and place myself even closer; within touching distance of the Empress. The light on the table was bright and now not only illuminated his face, but my own as well.

As I sit down, the Empress lets out a small gasp before reaching out and stroking my face with his fingers. I feel my breath catch in my throat and my heart thumbs painfully in my chest. “You have such a beautiful face.” My eyelashes flutter and my cheeks burn a bright red as I hear those words. To have those words spoken to me by someone this stunning…am I possibly dreaming?

The Empress lets out a pretty laugh and my blush spreads its way to my ears, I bow my head gently and say, “Thank you, Empress.”

He hums approvingly, and continues to stroke and touch my face with his gentle hand. “You have beautiful features and you even blush prettily; but I think it’s your eyes I love best. Raise them, so that they meet mine.”

Obeying his order, I raise them hesitantly and gaze into the Empress’ own dark orbs. He smiles and finally pulls his hand away from my cheek. Without his touch, I feel like my lungs finally fill with air and my hearts beats rapidly within my chest; as if this whole time it had stopped beating.

“What is your name?” He questions with a cute tilt of his head.

Embarrassingly enough, I have to think for a moment about my own name before telling him, “Joshua hong.”

“Joshua?” I smile, never had a name sounded so sweet falling from lips before. “You must be foreign then? Well it’s a very pretty name. When did you start living here in the capital?”

I try to think back to when I first arrive and just how much time has passed, “I believe I’ve only been here for a little over a year now, Empress.”

“Ah.” He nods and looks through a small pile of papers situated next to him and when he finds the one he wants, he pulls it out with a triumphant smile. He hums as he scans it with his eyes, “It says here you are a beta. You are also the same age as myself and my husband.”

I nod and realize that the pile of papers must be basic profiles of those who were permitted through the gates. “Yes, that sounds right Empress.”

He raises a questioning eyebrow, “It’s strange that by this age you haven’t married or mated with anyone yet, especially with that beautiful face of yours. Why is that?”

I lower my eyes; this was a question I was asked quite frequently. “All my life I have traveled from nation to nation…town to town and because of this it is hard to find someone to settle down with; when all I do is keep moving.”

The Empress looks at me with interest, “What do you do that causes you to travel so much? Are you a trader?”

I shake my head, “No, Empress. I became an orphan at a young age and was handed over to the Church. From that, I traveled a lot with the missionaries and helped the nurses who went to heal the sickly.”

He perks up at that and smiles, “If you were raised in the church that must mean you are capable of reading and writing, yes?”

I nod, “Yes, Empress.”

“And if you helped the sickly you must have experience in medicine, yes?”

Once again I nod, “I have been practicing it for three years now.”

The Empress smiles even brighter now and he looks beautiful doing so. “Wonderful! I love someone who is intelligent and kind. If you were raised in the church though…does this mean you also believe in both the Gods and obey their principles?”

“Yes, Empress.”

He pauses and squints his eyes at me, “All of them?”

Confused for a second, I give a very firm nod and once again repeat my words, “Yes, all of them, Empress.”

His mouth curls into a smirk, “Even the one where it says you shall not lie with another until after marriage?” I nod. He furrows his brow and leans closer to me, “What about the one where it says you must abstain from touching yourself in search of seeking self pleasure?” I flush but nod once more. He pulls back with a look of shock on his face, “You truly have never engaged in sexual pleasure with another or even done it to yourself before?”

I shake my head embarrassed, “No, I have not, Empress.”

He leans back, speechless for a minute before composing himself once more. “Well that’s…very sad that such a beautiful body like yours has never experienced one of the greatest things this world has to offer.”

I give him a curious look, “And what exactly is that, may I ask, Empress?”

He looks at me as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world, “An orgasm.”

My jaw practically hits the floor and I can feel my entire face turn red. Never in a million years would I ever imagine a person who so closely resembles an angel would speak those words to me. “I..well uh-yes…um…I..ahhh.”

He laughs as I struggle to find some way to respond to that. He waves a hand at me and shakes his head, “Don’t worry, let’s forget about that. Let’s move on to the last question I have for you. I want to know…what you think about the King.”

With my face still burning red hot, I try to gather my thoughts and think of a coherent response. “Well…to be honest I don’t really have any thoughts or feelings toward the King since I have never met him before. I can tell you what I’ve heard about him from rumors and stories I’ve been told but honestly…I don’t like to make judgments of people until I have met them personally myself…”

Empress Jeonghan nods his head and then peers up at me, “Fair enough. But even though you have never met my husband, you have met me. How about instead, you tell me what you think of me?”

I freeze and avoid his gaze as I try to think of how I should answer such a question. Of course, I should tell him the truth. But…such a thing would be quite embarrassing to admit to. I ponder it for a minute; but with his expectant gaze turn towards me I know it’s best if I just speak it plainly. “Truthfully, Empress…as flustered as I am to admit this… when I first saw you I thought you resembled an angel; the ones I heard so much about growing up.”

He smiles and looks up at me through his lashes, “Do you mean, you found me to be very beautiful?”

I bite my lip and shrug, “Yes and no…yes, I thought you were beautiful but more than that I thought you didn’t look…to be something of this world. Like you were sent from the heavens and that you were not actually part of mankind…” I feel my face warm itself once again and I cannot force myself to see what his reaction is.

He stands up from behind the table and I quickly look up in surprise, watching as he rounds the piece of furniture to stand next to me. My face remains hot as the length of his bare and smooth legs fill my vision. I try to pull my gaze away from them and instead look up into his face, but honestly it’s hard since all I seem to be able to focus on is the fact that his Kimono is so short if I lean forward just a little bit I would be able to see up under it. But of course, I do no such perverted thing and instead swallow around the lump in my throat.

He crouches down next so we are once again eye to eye, and I stare up into that heavenly face that seems to speak so many unspoken words to me. With one hand he caresses my bare shoulder and with the other he cups my jaw firmly. The heat that was once covering my face; swiftly makes its decent down to my groin and the way it stirs there and pulses causes a uncomfortable ache to form there. The lust and intensity of his gaze made my own vision turn hazy and I wonder if he could not only see, but smell how he was quickly making me come undone.

“Do you truly look at me that way? Do you really see me as such a divine entity?”

I nod, nearly completely lost in a daze.

He leans in closer to me and the way our breaths mingle together makes me see stars. “If you see me as such a thing…does that mean you will treat me as one too? If I asked you to forsake your gods, give them up entirely and instead dedicate yourself to me…would you do so? Would you pray to me instead every night? Would you follow my principles? My rules? Would you live and die believing that I am the only God that you may turn to? If I asked you to vow to do all those things…would you do it?”

Without any hesitation in my answer, I bare my soul to him, “Yes.”

He leans in to me and for a minute our lips nearly brush each other. He whispers with the voice of my newly found god, “I will hold you to that promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew~ I just spent all day writing this but it was worth it. Please leave me a comment below telling me what you think! Or feel free to ask a question if you have any! I promise I will respond back to your comment or question as soon as I can!


	3. Chapter 3

He pulls away from me suddenly and that loss of closeness leaves me dizzy for a moment. He grabs my upper arms and starts to pull me up, “Empress?”

“I need you to come here.” Obeying his wishes, I stand on wobbling legs and let him lead me to the edge of the room.

He pulls back a long curtain hanging on the wall, and reveals a hidden door. He pulls out a small, silver key from one of his long sleeves and unlocks it with a click. He swings the door open to reveal a small but very beautiful room; overflowing with cushions and tapestries. Bookshelves lined the back wall and held a giant assortment of baubles and souvenirs. In the middle of the room sat a small table that was stockpiled high with an assortment of different foods.

The Empress places his hand on the small of my back and gently pushes me inside, “I’m sorry I have to do this, but can you please wait here until a servant comes to get you? It might be a while so please, make yourself comfortable.”

I turn to face him with a questioning look, “Empress?” That word alone seemed to now be the only one I could speak.

He smiles gently, reassuring me, “It’s alright. I can’t say anything yet but it will be explained to you soon enough.”

He looks to me to see if I understand, and I nod; showing him I will follow his orders and remain here in this small room. He closes the door gently as he leaves, but I notice that he does not lock it. I turn and immediately my eyes go to the food in the middle of the room. It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve last eaten, so I quickly sit down and pull a tray of fruit towards me. I savor the taste of the fresh strawberries and grapes; and take a nice look around the room.

Most of the tapestries held images of lovers, either being torn apart or reuniting with each other. One even had a picture of two male lovers, sexually entwined with one another and arching their bodies as the pleasure took over them. I cast my eyes away from the image, feeling embarrassed at such a sight.

I glance around at the bookshelves, noticing that there was a wide variety of snow globes scattered upon them. After I was done eating and scanning the room, a heavy tiredness took over me and the many pillows surrounding me looked so comforting. I took one of the biggest and softest ones and laid my head down upon it, and before I knew it I had fallen asleep.

 I don’t know how long I slept in that room, it must have been a least an hour or so before I was woken up. “-ness, Highness! Please, wake up. Your Highness, we must hurry.” 

My eyelashes flutter against my cheeks and I open my eyes in confusion at the unfamiliar voice, “What?” I blink and quickly scan the room, trying to decipher where I am and what was going on. A handful of servants looked down at me and I pulled back from them in surprise. “What’s going on?”

One of them bows to me, “Your Highness, it’s time now for us to leave and go have you formally introduced.”

I could feel my brows furrow in confusion and I tried my best to decipher just what he was talking about. “I’m sorry…I don’t know what you mean. Why are you calling me Highness? Where are we going?”

The servants glance over at one another before returning their gazes to mine, “I suppose the Empress did not tell you?”

“The Empress?” Memories of the beautiful Empress fill my mind but I shake my head to get rid of them. “What did he not tell me?”

“That you have been chosen…”

I frown, “Chosen? For what?”

“Your Highness, you’ve been chosen to be the King’s consort.”

For a split moment my heart stops beating and an overwhelming amount of panic fills my body, “No! I mean…I-I never agreed to this. You must be mistaken, it’s not me!”

All the servants shake their head, practically in unison. “We are not wrong, you have been chosen by the Empress himself. And it does not matter if you agreed to this or not; you cannot disobey the King or Empress.” Two of them come to stand beside me and grab me by my arms and hoist me up, “We must hurry now so we aren’t late.”

Even though there was no way I could fight all of them, I still jerked in their grasp. “Wait! Wait a minute! I can’t! I-I…”

They start to guide me out of the room and down the halls. One of the servants pats my shoulder, “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. All you have to do is walk down the aisle. We will walk beside you so just keep pace with us. And then when you reach the end, you will bow before the King and Empress. He’ll ask you to stand, and from there all you have to do is stand there and listen patiently until it’s all over. Easy, right?”

I shake my head, “No! I’m scared, I can’t do this.”

They continue to drag me along anyway, not listening to my complaints, “Well it’s no time to be scared now. We can’t make the King and Empress wait on you. Just take a deep breath, and get ready.” They stop by a giant door and straighten me up in front of it. Nerves start to take over and I can’t help but tremble. They fix my clothes and hair in a hurry before lining themselves up on the sides of me. We all seem to wait with baited breath; and then suddenly the doors in front of us swing open and I’m blinded by the sudden exposure of bright sunlight.

I blink rapidly, trying to adjust to the sun’s rays directed right at my retinas. Before me was another giant courtyard; much bigger than the one earlier and was full of imperial officials. The back rows were filled with the omegas and betas from earlier, and I scanned them quickly to try and spot Seungkwan.

Music suddenly starts playing loudly and I jerk my attention to what’s in front of me. The servants next to me start walking forward and I quickly try to follow suit and match their pace. We step out into the sunlight and march along a red carpet that leads directly down the center of the courtyard. On both sides of the aisle, people were bowing low before the King, but I noticed many of them sneakily turned their heads to look at me. I scanned all of their faces; trying desperately to find my friend.

Just when I thought I could not find him, I spotted his shocked face turned towards me in the crowd. His eyes bugged out and I could see him gasp before mouthing the words, “What are you doing?!” at me.

I shake my head at him and plead with my eyes. I mouth back at him, “Save me!”

But Seungkwan’s face drops into a nearly emotionless mask and shakes his head. His eyes and face clearly read, “I’m sorry friend, you’re on your own now. It was nice knowing you.” He offers me a fake smile and thumbs up, “good luck”, before ducking his head back down and abandoning me to my fate.

My jaw drops at his sudden betrayal, and I turn my head back around to face my cursed fate alone. At the end of the aisle was a flight of stairs which led to a small platform with a red canopy over it. Sitting in their thrones were both the King and Empress. The Empress looked just as stunning as when I saw him earlier; with his gaze directed straight at me and one of his exposed, creamy legs crossed over the other, causing his short kimono to ride up even further on his body. The King was dressed in large formal robes, colored white and red. His gaze was also directed at me, and I swallowed roughly.

I try to clear my head and calm my nerves. I take a deep breath, and it was then; when I was about halfway down the aisle that I caught his scent. The alpha scent was so strong I involuntarily took a step backward and reeled. My vision went blank for a moment and my heart raced painfully in my chest.

I have come across a variety of alphas in my lifetime; all having their own distinct scent. But never in my lifetime, have I come across one that had a scent this strong. Most alphas could only give off a scent this strong if they were overwhelmed with rage or some other passionate feeling, but the King was not feeling any of those in this moment. I could smell no hostility radiating from him; no emotions that would cause it to be this strong. And that’s when I realized, this was simply normal for him. This strong scent was his flatline; and I was already choking on it.

The servants alongside me also tensed once the smell hit them, but none of them had as violent a reaction as my own. They turned concerned looks at me, and I could hear one of them telling me I need to keep walking. But my body did not want to move; instead all I could do was stand there with a ringing in my ears.

I look up to the King, and I see the Empress lean over and whisper something in his ear. The King raises a brow, and suddenly his overwhelming scent recedes into something I could manage. I breathe gratefully and my body relaxed from its tense state. The heavy scent of an alpha still lingers, and it still causes a deep vibration within the pit of my stomach; but it’s not nearly as overwhelming as before.

The servants continue to give me urging looks; and breathing through my mouth instead of nose now; I progress forward. I look back up to the King and Empress; and I realize the Empress must have told his husband to retract his scent. Most alphas do not do such a thing unless they are out on a hunt or during battle; times when they do not want to be detected. Although, I don’t know how anyone could not smell him; even if he didn’t want them too.

Now that his scent is more manageable for me to stand, I can now better detect its distinctiveness. It definitely is a much headier and heavier scent than most others. It was almost dewy and it lay thick upon my tongue and tasted of raw power. But there was also a strange scent of vanilla to it…which I realize I had smelt slightly upon The Empress earlier although I did not recognize it. But I realize now that scent of vanilla was the scent of their bond, something they share together.

As I walked closer, those pheromones sinked deeper into my skin and clogged my every pore. It felt like even if I rubbed my skin raw in the bathtub, that scent wouldn’t leave me. I wasn’t sure why everyone else around him wasn’t struggling like I was, but maybe they had just gotten use to it…I was most amazed by the Empress though. He sat right next to the King and yet he didn’t seem even the slightest bit disturbed.

As we near the end of the carpet; where the stairs then ascended up to the King and Empress proudly sitting upon their thrones; I bite my tongue and come to a halt. Just like the servant told me to do, I do the most formal bow before the King and let my forehead rest against the hard floor. When he tells me to rise; I’m honestly surprised by the softness of his command. Awkwardly, I rise, and feeling self-conscious with so many people looking at me; I cast my eyes to the floor.

I hear rather than see him rise from his throne. I can also hear a slight rustle of The Empress himself, also standing from his seat. I then hear the King step forward and listen as he makes his way down the stairs. With every step he took coming closer to me, I had to fight the urge to take a step back.

Slowly but surely, he makes his way down to me and his polished boots enter my field of vision. I’m not sure how long we stood like that for...him standing tall and straight while I kept my head bowed and clasped my shaking hands.

Finally, I heard him take a breath and speak, “Look at me. I want to see your face.” With all the willpower I had within me, I jerked my head up to face him. And as painful as it was, I raised my eyes slowly until they looked into his. The King…did not look how I expected him to look. For whatever reason, I imagined the King would be a big and burly man. A giant with a mustache and beard and possibly even a few scars from all the battles he had been in. But to be honest…the King was a very handsome man.

He had black hair and a pair of eyes that were nearly the same color, if not darker. He had long lashes and perfect milky skin; traits I’m sure many women would be jealous to have. I watched as he licked his full lips and I wonder if he felt the same way as I did about him. Do I too, look different from what he had expected?

He furrows his thick brows and reaches forward to take my trembling hands into his strong and steady ones. “You are very beautiful, Joshua.”

I look at the King in surprise; wondering just how he knew my name and also thrown off by his sudden compliment. I fumble a bit with my words, but am able to somehow spit them out, “T-thank you, M-majesty.”

His strong gaze remains on me for a while longer, before he directs it to the many people bowed behind me. He raises his voice, to make sure they can all hear him but considering how silent the whole place was, even if he whispered I’m sure they would hear it. “From today and onwards, I will take this man by my side. As your new Highness, I expect you to offer him the love and affection he deserves.” He allows for a pause so his words may resonate throughout the air before continuing on, “Our formal wedding will happen a month from now. I ask all that are here, to spread this news so that all in the Kingdom may hear it.”

He pauses once more and I look over his shoulder up at the Empress. I expected a sad look upon his face, or some other emotion to describe the hurt he must feel from his husband going and marrying someone else. But instead I was met with a gentle smile, and the only look the Empress had for his King was one of complete fondness.

The King takes one more breath, “You all are dismissed,” and with that, it was all over. The King turns with one of my hands still clasped in his and starts to ascend the stairs. However, he pauses when he notices my feet have not moved. He lets go of my hand and comes back down to stand by my side. He places his hand on the small of my back and pushes me forward, “Come.” It was a simple word but it was also a command; one I could not disobey.

I push myself to move forward and let him guide me up the staircase. Waiting for us at the top was the Empress, but I noticed that his gaze was solely directed at the King. As we finally reach him, he mumbles a soft, “you did a good job” but I wasn’t sure just who his words were directed to. Full of grace, he flows to the other side of me and takes my arm, “We should tell him everything now.”

The King spares me a glance before looking back to his husband, “I know.”

\-------------------------------------

The palace was so massive I knew no matter what, I would never be able to navigate such a place. The Empress and King guided me throughout its many halls and rooms; making small talk with each other the whole way. I didn’t know just where they were taking me until we ascended what felt like my fifth flight of stairs and we came to a hall that had exactly three doors. They led me over to the closest one and opened the door to reveal a massive bedroom.

The King speaks to me with his deep voice, “From now on, you will sleep here.” My jaw dropped as I took in the massive amount of space. The entire room itself was bigger than the living quarters I use to sleep at; which was able to house at least six people.

The room was painted a ruby red and all the furniture was colored tarnished gold and black. The massive bed was covered in red, satin sheets and had a dark canopy above it that had gauzy curtains hanging from it. On the other side of the room there was a giant, black fireplace with gold detailing that had a large mirror hanging above it. Along the walls, paintings hung usually depicting beautiful men in different states of undressed, all with sultry looks on their faces.

They pull me over to what seems to be a small sitting area and sit me down in one of the golden chairs. They take their place across from me in one of the loveseats, and for a moment none of us speak but instead only look at each other. I try to think of what I should say and how I should say it, but my mind goes blank and all I could think about was how I couldn’t believe any of this was happening.

The Empress clears his throat and entwines his fingers with his husband’s. He looks over to me and I could feel myself melt into mush under his lovely gaze. “Joshua…Seungcheol and I have a lot to tell you. We would appreciate it if you will listen to what we have to say, before you ask any questions or make any demands…is that alright?”

Not trusting my voice, I simply nod my head eagerly at him and return his pretty smile with a cautious one of my own. The King then sits straighter and coughs gently before speaking, “As I’m sure you are aware, Jeonghan and I already have three children. But we have yet to produce an alpha. Because of this, myself and many of my advisors are worried about how this can impact the future of our Kingdom.”

I lower my eyes and nod; knowing exactly where this was going. This was why I was chosen, wasn’t it? They need an alpha child and he’s gonna ask me to share his bed with him and help him make one. I already feel a slight sense of fear rise within me at the thought. Chances are he won’t be gentle with me and it will hurt. Or even worse he might knot me; and I’ve heard many stories about how excruciatingly painful that is.

“Jeonghan and I consulted a very knowledgeable physician about three months ago, asking what we could do to solve this situation. After some blood work was done, we realized that it would be impossible for Jeonghan and I to produce an alpha son.”

Without being able to hold it back, I let out a sad sigh, accepting my fate as it was. The Empress must have recently become infertile or has some condition that prevents him from being able to carry an alpha child. And this is why I am now expected to take his place and do it for him. I clench my hands into tight fists and wish that none of this ever happened to me.

“The physician told us that I was incapable of producing an alpha.”

After the King spoke the words, I could feel my brain short circuit itself. I open my eyes which I didn’t realized I had closed, and look up to see if I had heard correctly. “I’m sorry your Majesty…did you…I think I didn’t hear you correctly.”

The King chuckles and smirks, “You heard me correctly. I cannot produce an alpha heir. However…Jeonghan can.”

I look between the King and Empress with a lost look on my face, “I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m following you.”

The King sighs and leans back, “I’m sure you thought that you would be expected to share my bed with me. But that is not what we are asking of you. You will not be sharing my bed; you will be sharing my husbands.”

I feel my mouth open and close, and then open and close just like I was a fish out of water. “I…you want me to…with The Empress, with _your husband_ …” I couldn’t believe this. Did he really want me to commit adultery and have sex with his husband?!

The Empress leans forward with a concerned look on his face, “Please, try to understand Joshua. We are only doing this because we believe it is the best course of action for this Kingdom’s future. Otherwise, we would not consider it.”

I shake my head, “It’s just…this is a lot for me to take in. And isn’t this illegal?!”

The King nods, “Yes, it is. It’s illegal for anyone to lay with the Empress besides the King, which is why this must remain a secret. Only us three shall know about this.”

I nod in understanding and try my best to gather myself and my thoughts, “So…from the start you planned all of this? That’s why Empress was given the power to decide who would become your consort?”

I look to them both and they nod. The King licks his lips before speaking, “We had to make it look plausible and not suspicious so we invited both omegas and betas; although we knew from the start that we would only consider the betas as possible choices, since omegas would not be able to impregnate Jeonghan.”

I nod, understanding that the red paint on my hand was indeed a way of signaling to the Empress who was an omega and who was a beta. An alpha would be able to tell easily by their scent who was an omega or not.

Suddenly, the bedroom door swings open and a royal officer bows before us before straightening back up, “Your Majesty, the Captain General is waiting in the throne room for you so that you may discuss battle plans with him.”

The King sighs and unlaces his hands from his husband’s and stand ups up roughly, “I have duties to attend to but please, if you have any questions feel free to ask Jeonghan here.” He turns to me and smiles before heading towards the door. “I will be busy for the rest of the day, but I will see both of you at dinner.” He sends one more loving look to the Empress before exiting.

As the King moves farther away, his scent disappears along with him and every tense muscle in my body relaxes at once. The Empress glances over at me and smiles. He pats the now empty spot on the loveseat next to him, “Come over here.”

Not being able to help it, I smile and make my way over. I sit on the edge, leaving at least a little space in between us but The Empress quickly closes that as he scoots up close to me. I feel his breath against my neck and I feel my mouth salivate and my pheromones spike suddenly. I flush instantly as I realize the Empress could probably smell my sudden peak of lust.

He lays his hand on my inner thigh and massages it gently. A pulsing heat suddenly arises in my groin area and I turn my head away from the Empress, trying to breathe deeply and ignore all the things my body was suddenly experiencing.

“Joshua…I know it must be really hard for you. You’ve had to experience a lot only within a day.”

I nod my head, showing I was listening to him, “Yes, Empress.”

He hums gently and the hand on my thigh moves itself higher up, “You can call me Jeonghan when it’s just us. I don’t generally like being called Empress, it seems much too formal.”

I swallow roughly, “Jeonghan…it’s a very nice name.”

I feel his hot breath puff against my lower jaw as he lets out a small laugh. He gently presses his lips to my ear, “Do you really think so?”

I feel myself harden painfully in my pants and turn to face him which was a mistake, “Empress I-.” His lust filled eyes capture mine and whatever I was planning to say leaves my thoughts. He licks his lips and I watch the action very intently with my eyes.

“Joshua, like I was saying, I know this all must be a lot for you. I can understand if you need some time to think things through.”

I nod, “Um…yea” I say stupidly. He smiles and hikes one of his legs up and I see his short Kimono pull tight over his ass and hips. It rises to expose the most upper part of his thigh and an intoxicating scent reaches my nose. I realizes it’s Jeonghan’s own sweet smell: the scent of his own lust and wetness between his thighs. My cock twitches as I inhale it and I want to mewl in both pain and pleasure.

He brings his other hand up and strokes a single finger down my jugular. Again, my gaze returns to his and I feel my fangs itching to come out as I start to lose control. He brings his face even closer to mine, “Even though I’m understanding of your situation, Joshua…You still made a promise to me, remember?”

“Promise…” I say the word but in that moment I couldn’t really think of what it even means.

Jeonghan nods, “Yes, you promised to dedicate your mind, body, and soul to me. And I expect you to do that. No matter how you feel about this situation…I expect you to do what I ask of you.”

Boldly, I press myself against him further and push one of my legs up in between his thighs. He gasps and the hand resting against my thigh now clenches it tightly as it rubs against his hardness. I let out a gasp of my own as I feel his wetness seep through my clothing.

“What do I get in return, for giving everything I have to you?”

My hand reaches out to touch him but he quickly grabs it and looks me dead in the eye, “You get what I give you, and you don’t ask for anything more.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW!!!! I never update this quickly. But because of all your guys' lovely comments, I felt super pumped in writing this chapter and wanted to finish it quickly so you guys could read it <3
> 
> Please leave me a comment telling me what you think! Or ask a question if you have any~~ I will respond back to them as soon as I can!


	4. Chapter 4

Feeling brazen and hiked up on lust, I lean in to finally seal our lips together; growing tired of them teasingly keeping their distance from me. But all my lips met was air as Jeonghan quickly disengaged his body from my own and started walking to the door. The sudden abandonment didn’t click within my brain at first and I sat for a couple seconds, staring into space with a lost and confused look. As my brain slowly caught up to reality, I finally turn my head to Jeonghan; watching as he smoothed down his clothes to look more presentable. In my mind though, I didn’t feel it helped very much. There was still a noticeable flush along his skin and he showed signs of breathlessness. The lingering scent of his sweetness still hung within the air and he turned to look at me with hooded eyes.

“It’s time we both start getting ready for dinner tonight. I’ll be back later to escort you to the dining room.” And with that, he opened the door and quickly shut it behind himself, leaving me alone in my new room, painfully hard and mind spinning in circles.

I felt my mouth fall open stupidly as I was left dumbfounded. I could feel my brain struggle to put everything together and makes sense of what just happened. I look down at myself, embarrassed to see the bulge in my pants and the wet spot on my thigh; both being the result of Jeonghan’s sudden attack to seduce me. At least…I was most certainly sure that’s what he was trying to do. But yet, I’m not quite sure why he got up and suddenly left like that…

I shake my head and inhale deeply, trying desperately to rid the Empress from my thoughts and also praying that the hardness in my pants would quickly go away. But no matter what, my thoughts kept returning to the beautiful man. I just couldn’t understand him! Around his husband he seemed so composed and gentle, looking pretty and dainty on the King’s arm. But the second he was left alone in the room with me, he would suddenly turn into an incubus and with his strange powers he would cause me to lose all sense. And above all, I couldn’t believe I would fall into his seduction so easily! I’ve never had this happen before; I’ve never felt so much lack of control around another! But then again, it’s not like I’ve ever met another person like Jeonghan, and I’ve especially never had someone lustfully come onto to me the way the Empress has done. Truthfully…I don’t think I’ve ever had a person show interest in me before…

I frown and lay my head against the back of the loveseat, looking up towards the ceiling of my new room. Was it normal to react this way? Would others have the same reaction as me if they were in my position? I don’t know how they couldn’t…Jeonghan was stunning and I would assume everyone would naturally drool over him. But then again, what would I know? I guess…I don’t know. I was now more aware than ever of my lack of sexual experience and knowledge.

I bite my tongue and close my eyes, suddenly overwhelmed and feeling like I was drowning. It was just all too much in such a short amount of time! I went from a poor servant of the church to the King’s consort in less than a day. I’m told I’m suppose to help with the birth of a new alpha, not by sleeping with the King but by sleeping with his husband. As the new Highness I’m also expected to probably take on all the responsibilities that come with the position. I have to worry about losing control anytime the Empress is around cause I never know when my body and mind will fall prey to his temptation; and I’m sure there’s more to add to the list of sudden changes in my life but my mind hurts too much to even start thinking about it.

My eyes tear up as the urge to cry rises within me. I feel like I have no control over anything anymore, and the life I use to lead and love was stripped away from me within a moment…and I didn’t even have a say in the matter. I could feel the tears start to spill over when suddenly there was a loud rap on the door.

The sound jerks my attention away from my thoughts and I hurriedly stand and wipe the tears off my cheeks. I make my way over to the door and open it just enough to peek out and see who it is. I spot five, small servant women standing there, all wearing the same baby blue outfit and smiling like they were thrilled to see me. I sniffle at them awkwardly and keep the door as a shield between me and them.

“Can I help you?”

The closest one to me speaks up, “We were sent by the Empress to escort you to the baths so that you can get ready to dine with the King tonight.”

I frown and see that indeed, three of the girls had baskets in their arms which were full of bathing supplies. I relax and step out from hiding behind the door and nod to the girls silently.

Despite having tear tracks on my face and probably looking miserable, none of the girls seemed the least bit fazed and continued acting as if they saw nothing. Those smiles stayed plastered on their faces as they led me down to the hall where the baths were supposedly located. As they guided me, I noticed how they all seemed to move in unison; walking to the same beat and turning at the same point as if this was a very much practiced and learned choreography. It creeped me out to be honest and I wondered if all of the servants who served royals were expected to act like this.

We end up in front of two large doors painted a lovely shade of blue with white, intricate lilies painted all over them. I stored away the image of the door in my mind for future reference so that I could find it myself next time and not have to follow silently behind the five clones that surrounded me now.

They open the large doors for me and immediately I am hit by a wave of heat and mist. The bathroom was full of steam and I felt the immediate desire to strip myself out of my clothes to allow my body to breathe. The tub laid right in the center of the room, full of clear, steaming water and blue and white petals floated around in it. The whole room was covered in white marble; the ground, the walls, and even the small amount of furniture. White and blue flowers were scattered about the room in very expensive vases.

I stood there and shook my head in disbelief. Was every room in this goddamn place a freaking masterpiece or something? Did they know just how much all this stuff costs?

The girls set their baskets down on the edge of the tub and one of them takes my arm gently and guides me closer to the tub. I expect them to leave after that but instead my body jerks in surprise when one of them starts trying to unlace my top. I pull away from her and pierce her with a glare, “What are you doing?”

They all look at me with the same blank face, “What do you mean?”

I raise an eyebrow and back away slightly, “You’ve shown me where the bath is so you guys can leave now.”

They share a look before turning back to me, “We are here to also help wash you and provide you with any other service you may need.”

A look of disbelief crosses my face before I shake my head at them, “I am perfectly capable of washing myself, thank you very much. You are now excused.”

One of them in the back holds up a razor, “We are also here to shave you.”

I raise my eyebrows, “Shave me? Why would you do that?”

“The Empress ordered it.”

I roll my eyes in irritation, “Fine, I will shave my legs too, so just leave.”

The one on my left perks up, “We aren’t suppose to just shave your legs. We were told to shave everything.”

I pierce her with a small glare, “What do you mean by everything?”

She gives me a look and motions vaguely with her hand all over her body, “I mean _everything_.”

My eyes widen in shock and I grit my teeth and look away from her, “Fine. I’ll shave off every single last hair on my body, okay? So please leave now.”

One of them, probably growing tired of maintaining her fake but perfect façade, frowned at me and gave me an annoyed look, “We can’t leave. The Empress forbade us from doing so. He said no matter how much you complained about it, that we were to tell you to ‘suck it up and get use to it’. And no matter how much you dislike this and want us to leave, we are bound to follow his orders over yours.”

I feel my jaw tighten and breathe out in frustration, “Fine. If you are required to stay, just go stand in that corner or something and leave me alone. All I want is to be able to bathe in peace.”

They glance over to the corner I pointed towards with blank stares, “What do you want us to do over there?”

I toss my hands up in the air, “I don’t know, play a game or something!”

They frown but listen to what I told them to do and move silently over to the designated corner and huddle there in a circle. I heard them mumble quietly to each other and decided to pretend they just weren’t there.

I quickly pulled my clothes off and cautiously climbed into the bath. The water was hot but not scalding. I was amazed at the feeling of it, since I had only ever taken a warm bath once in my life before. I sink into the water and let the heat sooth my muscles and mind. I watch the soft petals swirl around and let out a small sigh, trying to let go of all my frustration and stress.

I look towards the baskets laid out on the edge and scan through them for a bar of soap. Once I spot it, I pick it up and as if some unidentifiable entity was trying to test my patience, the bar of soap slips from my wet hands and ricochets itself across the room. Both the girls in the corner and I watch as it slides itself across the marble floor, leaving a thin film of residue behind in its wake. Their eyes turn from the bar of soap to me, all five of them sending me a blank stare that was laced with a small amount of pity. I could feel my blood start boiling in my veins and I turn away from them and the bar of soap lying on the ground.

The saying ‘when it rains it pours’ flitted through my mind and I never related so much to it until now.

I instead pick up one of the many fancy and expensive looking razors; giving it a fearful look as I take in its sharp edge. It had a red hilt with a silver detail at the bottom in the image of a crown. To be honest, I’ve never shaved my body before, only my face and since I didn’t grow a lot of facial hair, I didn’t even have to shave it that often. But the blades I used were plain and dull and much simpler to use.

I lift one of my legs out of the water, and place my foot against the tubs edge to keep my leg steady. Going slow and trying my best to be careful, I slide the blade up my leg, leaving behind a clear strip of skin. I was doing well until I got around the area of my knee and my hand accidently dug the blade into my skin. I let out a yelp and watched as a thin and very shallow cut blossomed red and drops of blood started pouring down my leg. I hissed in pain and used the water to try and wipe the blood off.

Out of my sight, one of the girls raises her voice, “There is a blue bottle full of cream in that basket next to you. It will stop the bleeding.”

I slit my eyes and turn to look over my shoulder to see five pairs of eyes directed back at me. “You don’t need to watch me, okay? Turn around and leave me alone.”

One of them frowns and raises an eyebrow, “You sure you don’t want our help? It doesn’t seem like you know what you are doing.”

I clench my teeth and purse my lips, “I’m _fine_.”

They send me doubtful looks but obey my orders once again, and turn their gazes away from me. I could feel my blood pressure rising and I quickly scan the baskets for a blue bottle full of cream. When I find it I practically rip the top off and quickly dab a blot of the substance on my stinging cut.

I take a deep breath and hold it in for ten seconds before letting it out. I do that a couple more times, trying desperately to just relax but my frustration and stress kept swelling up inside of me. I put my leg back up on the tub’s ledge and lean over it. I go even slower this time, watching the blade carefully to make sure I didn’t press too hard. But just like before, as I got close to my knee I sliced by own skin open once again. Instinctually, I hiss and slam the razor on the marble edge of the bath, causing it to echo with a ring throughout the room. I pull my legs close to my body and wrap my arms tightly around them. I hang my head and bite my lip and try to resist the urge to just scream. I stop breathing as I feel my throat tighten and choke on all the emotions I keep trying to repress within myself.

I hear the soft padding of feet and someone clears their throat daintily. “Here,” I look up to see one of the girls extending her arm out to me, with a clear vial in her hand full of blue liquid, “If you dab this under your eyes after crying, it will get rid of all the puffiness.”

I look up at her and see the understanding in her eyes. My bottom lip starts to tremble and before I know it, I’m sobbing and have tears spilling down my cheeks, “I just…I just…It’s been a long day and I…I-I just feel really stressed.” I try to form an excuse for my mental breakdown but had to stop at the sobs become too much to hold back.

She coos to me and rubs my shaking shoulders and tries to calm me down. Before I know it, the others join her and speak gently to me; trying to reassure me that everything will be okay. One of them sits herself on the edge of the tub and reaches into the water to pull my leg up. Reflexively, I try to pull it away but her grip remained tight. She pulls out a big bottle and blobs a generous amount of the white, foamy substance in it on my leg. She rubs it out evenly over my skin and I watch her cautiously with tears still falling from my eyes. She pulls out a razor and starts working on shaving my leg for me.

The one behind me dumps a small amount of warm water on my hair to dampen it, before she started to scrub lemon scented shampoo into my scalp. Two of them take out rough rags and start to scrub all the dirt and dead skin off my body. As they all started to work on cleaning me, they continued speaking to me calmly. They kept telling me to ‘let it all out’, ‘don’t hold it in. Just cry’. Part of me wanted to listen to them, but another part wanted to pull away.

A couple times I told them to stop and said I would do it all myself, but they would hush me and tell me to just lay back and relax. One girl spoke to me wisely, “Once in a while, you need to let others take care of you. You can’t go through everything in this world alone.”

In a sense, I knew her words were right, but that didn’t necessarily mean they were easy to follow. My whole life I practically had to take care of myself, and I grew use to that. I was always taking care of others but I never asked nor expected for them to take care of me…

Eventually, I just stopped fighting them and let them do what they wanted. I cried and cried until finally the tears dried on my cheeks. And to be honest, I felt so much better. It felt like a giant weight was lifted off of me and suddenly I could breathe. I don’t really remember how long it’s been since I last cried, but I was amazed at how nice I felt afterwards. I still had all the recent events that took place on my mind…but they didn’t seem as daunting as before. In fact, I even felt like I was now a bit more accepting to these new changes.

The girl from earlier pulled out the small vial of blue liquid from before, and dabbed it under my swollen eyes. It tingled slightly and smelled like mint. She then awkwardly stood me up and bent down towards my crotch. I jerk and immediately shove her head away and she looks at me annoyed. She holds up the bottle of shaving cream and razor as if she was threatening to use them on me; which I already knew she was planning to do so.

“The Empress ordered that we do it.”

I frown and turn away with a blush on my cheeks, “I can do it myself.”

She gives me another doubtful look, “We don’t need you slicing yourself up anymore than you already have. Plus, you don’t need to be embarrassed. I’ve done this more times than you can count and it will be done before you know it.”

I flush even harder and shake my head, “I don’t want you touching such private parts on me…”

She shrugs a shoulder, “Would you rather be uncomfortable for a minute as I quickly do the work _myself_? Or be in pain and possibly chop your own dick off by doing it _yourself_?”

We all knew the answer to that question. I close my eyes and try my best to ignore her as she got to work. It was incredibly awkward for me, especially when she had to touch my skin to pull it tight or asked me to get in certain positions to make it easier on her. But like she said, she finished it quickly and I didn’t receive a single scratch.

They then escort me out of the tub and wrap me in a fluffy robe. I slide my feet into some slippers and like before, I follow behind the five girls as they lead me back to my room. Quietly, I thank them for everything and apologize for initially being somewhat rude to them. They smile, all in unison together, and tell me not to worry about it. In some ways, their behavior was still strange to me, but I had come to the conclusion that they were very nice people.

We reach the door to my room and they open it for me. I walk in, expecting it to be empty just like I had left it, but I’m surprised when I find Jeonghan there, holding two different fabrics in his hands. This time, his dark locks were hanging loosely around his shoulders and shone like black silk. He was now dressed in another short kimono but this one was much tighter than the previous and showed every curve of his body. It was pristine white with a gray floral design on it. It had red lacing that went up the right shoulder and along the outfit’s collar; and there were no sleeves. That’s what surprised me the most is witnessing the Empress’s arms for the first time. Both arms were covered in gray, smoky tattoos. One arm contained a sleeve full of angels and the symbolic gates of death; while the other was a field of flowers that ascended up his arm with petals blowing in the wind.

I knew why the tattoos were there, and honestly I was not surprised to see he had them, I was just surprised at how large they were. Tattoos were only given to warriors after they had killed someone in battle, or to a beta or omega that had given birth. They were meant to represent the taking of life as well as the creation of it. I knew Jeonghan would have at least three, one to represent each of his children; but I forgot about the fact that bonded couples shared tattoos. Meaning, every time the King killed someone, both he and Jeonghan would get a tattoo together. And every time Jeonghan gave birth, they would once again, receive another tattoo together. And I guess…if you do both things enough, they start to really add up.

He turns to look at me over his shoulder and his face freezes up for a moment, and I remember that I had been crying earlier and probably still look like a wreck. He smiles tightly and sets the fabrics he was holding down, and makes his way over to me. His eyes slide over to where the servants stood by my door, awaiting their orders.

“You are dismissed.” It was curt and to the point and they didn’t hesitate to obey it. They leave silently, closing the door without a single noise being made. He looks back towards me and offers up a gentle smile and takes my hand. “I hope you don’t mind that I took the liberty of choosing what outfit you are going to wear tonight. It’s just that, your closet is so large and I figured you would feel overwhelmed. Plus, we have to color coordinate with the King and since I’m wearing white, it would be best if you wore red.”

I clear my throat awkwardly, “Oh…yea of course. I don’t really mind. Thank you.”

He smiles prettily and takes my arm and leads me over to the sitting area. He picks up a red outfit; another kimono but this one was long and had gold detailing on it, depicting a majestic dragon. The neckline dipped low and the sleeves were long with slits on the shoulder that would expose a bit of skin. Even though the outfit was long, around the mid thigh the fabric became shear and would most likely expose my legs. I took it into my own hands and felt how soft and rich the material was, and knew it was probably one of the most expensive things I had ever held in my life.

“It’s…incredible.”

Jeonghan raises a brow, “Really? I find it to be pretty conservative. You have much nicer and more expensive outfits in your closet over there, but it’s also better to dress conservatively for simple dinners like these. Save the nicer stuff for bigger events, like balls or parties.”

I look over to the ‘closet’ he gestured towards and my mouth fell open as I witnessed the size of it. It was like a whole other room attached to my own, overfilled with clothes of all sorts. I don’t know why anyone would need a closet so large and where the clothes that filled it came from since none of them were mine, but I just decided to accept it and not question anything.

“You should try it on so we can see how it looks.”

He gestures to the fabric in my hands and I nod, “Oh…yea.” I look around awkwardly, wondering if there was a place I could change or if he was just gonna stand there and watch me put the outfit on in front of him.

As if noticing what I was looking for, Jeonghan goes and pulls a basic, wooden room divider out of the closet. I quickly run over to help him set it up and marvel at just how plain the piece of furniture was. It almost looked out of place surrounded by all the grandeur present within the room. I never had related so much to a room divider before in my entire life.

Jeonghan shows me where the undergarments are kept in my closet before leaving me in peace to change in privacy. I hear him cross the room to shuffle some things around near the vanity table and I wonder curiously what he is getting into now. After a couple moments of neither of us speaking, I grow uncomfortable with the heavy silence in the room and I raise my voice to try and start a simple conversation.

“So…what’s the reason we have to color coordinate with the King? Do we have to do that every day? What if I don’t know what he is wearing?”

Jeonghan hums, “It’s not necessarily something you _need_ to do. Generally, you only have to worry about that sort of stuff for big and formal events. But, it’s good to do it for things like dinner, because sometimes Seungcheol invites important people over to eat with us. And it paints a good image if our family looks cohesive and put together. That’s also why I recommend dressing conservatively for dinner, since you don’t know just what sort of company we will be having over and it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

I finish putting the outfit on and admire at how nice and loose it is, allowing my body to move freely. I make my way out from behind the divider and to be honest, it felt good to see the Empress nod his head approvingly at me.

“To be honest, I’m not an expert on anything fashion and I don’t really know what I should wear or when I should wear it.”

Jeonghan nods understandably, “Don’t worry too much about it. You will start taking classes soon that will explain all that stuff to you.” He pulls out the bench from under the vanity and motions for me to sit on it.

I walk over curiously, “Classes? Classes for what?”

“Classes to basically teach you how to dress, talk, and behave like a royal. They’re awful, I know that from experience. Once we find you some suitable teachers to instruct you, you’ll start meeting with them on a daily basis for your lessons.”

I sit down on the vanity bench and look at my red-rimmed eyes and pale face in the mirror. Jeonghan leans over and starts to pat powder onto my face, “Makeup?” I question.

He sends me a tight smile, “Usually I’m not one to enforce wearing make-up, unless we are attending a formal event that requires it…but it’s obvious you have been crying.”

I look away from him and swallow roughly, “I…I’m sorry.”

The Empress makes a noise in his throat, “It’s nothing to be sorry about. Whether you believe me or not, I understand. I cried the whole first month I started living here. Every single night I cried myself to sleep.”

I frown, “Why were you crying?”

A reminiscent look crosses his face, “I was overwhelmed. I grew up a peasant, who lived with a cruel father and no mother. My room use to be a cage that my father would lock me in at night. And then suddenly, I was ‘The Empress’. No longer a poor boy covered in dirt and starving to death…I was royalty, But y’know, it’s not as nice as they make it out to be in the fairytales.”

I cringed at the thought of a young Jeonghan, starving and kept in a cage. Whoever his father is or was; he is more than just a cruel man, he’s a monster. And the way Jeonghan looked when he talked about the man, I’m sure his father did even worse things than just keeping him in a cage and I felt a rage burn in my skin. Thank the Gods that the beautiful being sitting next to me now escaped all of that.

Jeonghan looks up at me from under his dark lashes, “The lessons were hard and the punishments for failing were even worse. At every moment, I felt like the people surrounding me were trying to find any flaw they could about me. No matter what I did, they were never happy or satisfied and if I showed the smallest sign of weakness, they would pounce on me.” Suddenly, his eyes warm and the corners of his lips upturn, “But I at least had Seungcheol. No matter what I did, he would love me. He showed me just what unconditional love was; it was something I never had before until I met him.”

I smile as I witness the love and happiness glimmer in his eyes, “You both are so lucky to have each other.”

He tilts his head and gently pats my cheekbone with some foundation, “We don’t only have each other now. We have you, and you have us. Plus we have our kids.”

I furrow my brows, “You have me?”

His eyes twinkle, “Of course, you’re family now, whether you want to be or not. And family is suppose to love and support each other unconditionally. So the next time you feel like crying, you don’t have to do it alone. You can come to me or Seungcheol, and we will listen to you.”

I felt my heart skip a beat at his words and I search his perfect face to see if he meant just what he said, that he was being genuine and truthful with me. There was no deceitfulness in his gaze as he returned my searching stare. He meant it…I was family to him now.

I rip my gaze from his own and look away. His hand freezes, now unsure if its touch was still welcomed. I swallowed thickly, repeating the word ‘family’ over and over again in my own head. The word…no, the idea itself was foreign to me. Just what _is_ a family? Is it really this easy to become part of one?

Jeonghan shuffles awkwardly and turns to put the make-up away. I glance up to take a quick look at his face and my heart throbs when I see a small hint of pain and sadness in his eyes. Did I upset him? Did he take my actions as a sign of rejection? It’s not that I disliked what he said and offered to me…I just didn’t know how to respond to it.

I reach out and grab his wrist, causing him to pause in his actions. I gently clear my throat, “I was crying…” I hesitate and think my words over for a second, wondering if I should actually say them. Jeonghan gives me a curious look and I take a deep breath before continuing on, “I was crying because you make me feel powerless.”

He remains silent as he takes in my words, but his look of surprise tells me that they clearly caught him off guard. “Powerless? Why…do you feel that way?”

I lick my lips out of nervousness, “Well…when you sometimes speak to me or touch me,” I flush as I remember how much I desired him only an hour or so earlier in this very room, “I feel like I can’t resist you. Sometimes I feel like I don’t have any choice but to do as you command of me.”

The Empress lets out a small chuckle, “That’s not true. You always have a choice. You can tell me ‘no’ at anytime you like, I’m not gonna _force_ you to do something you don’t want to. But of course, I’m naturally still gonna try to _persuade_ you to do as I like. And If I know that touching you…” He strokes his hand down the side of my face and along my jaw and neck before settling on my shoulder, “If I know that seducing you will get me what I want, you can bet I will make it my main weapon to use against you every time.” He smiles playfully at me, “You can’t be surprised by that, right? Even though you have the right to refuse me, that doesn’t mean I’m gonna make it easy for you to do so.”

He winks at me before grabbing my hand and pulling me to stand up next to him. He loops his arm with my own and starts to lead me out of my room. I look down at his tattoo covered arm, the one with the flowers on it, and unconsciously I brush the image with my fingers. As we walk briskly down the hallway, my touch catches his attention and he smiles at me.

“They represent the birth of my children.”

“Really?”

He hums happily, “Yes. The roses represent the oldest, Jihoon. Although, he likes being called Woozi nowadays. The daffodils represent Mingyu, and the daisies represent the youngest, Hansol. But Hansol prefers to be called Vernon.”

“Vernon?” I raise my eyebrows at the Western sounding name.

Jeonghan shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head, “I don’t really know where he got the name from either but after he heard Jihoon had a nickname he wanted one as well.”

“Does Vernon speak the Western native tongue?”

Surprisingly, the Empress nods, “He started learning it when he was very young. I believe we had a servant working here at the time who could speak it. And I guess Vernon forced them to teach it to him.”

By that point, we had reached a large set of doors painted royal blue with images of white angels flying up into the heavens. Two servants open the doors for us and we walk in the dining room. It was large but not outrageously big like I was expecting it to be. The walls were painted the same royal blue as the doors and had the same image of angels flying through fluffy clouds and laughing with joy. The ceiling even had them painted beautifully looking down in curiosity.

The table and floor, along with all the rest of the furniture in the room, were an inky black color. Black vases sat around the perimeter of the room holding huge, white hibiscus that gave off a pretty scent throughout the room.

At that moment, the doors on the other side of the room opened as well and three individuals stepped through. The first one to step through was clearly an omega. If someone could not tell by his scent then they could easily tell by his small stature. He was tiny, in both height and size. He had peachy colored hair and milky skin. He wore a black, long sleeved kimono that was loose and stopped at his mid thigh. It had red along the collar and sleeves and a red dragon spiraled its way along his torso. To finish it off he had a red sash pulled very tightly around his waist, giving his body curves and just like the Empress, he wore no pants underneath his outfit but he did wear black stockings instead.

The next one to enter was a giant who was easily over 6 feet tall. He was more than a head taller than the first guy who entered. He was handsome and entered with a pearly white smile on his face. He had short, dark chocolate colored hair and eyes to match. He wore black pants and a red and white shirt with black stitching and a simple gold design flowing along it. It had no sleeves and showed off his tan and muscular arms.

The third one to enter was clearly younger than the other ones since he was most certainly not fully mature yet. He still had a distinct lengthiness to his limbs and awkwardness to his movement that gave away his youth. But he was still taller than the first boy to enter and the more I look at him, I could tell he probably will hit full maturity within 1-2 months. He stood out the most among the others, not because of his babyish looks, but because he looked the most disheveled. His light brown hair was curly and messy on top of his head and there was a smudge of dirt on his nose. Instead of wearing only white, red, or black; he wore white pants with a light blue shirt covered in pink and gold flowers.

The second he walked through the door Jeonghan tsked at him and ran over to his side, “Vernon! What are you wearing? Why aren’t you wearing what I told you to wear earlier?”

He looks up at his father with happy golden eyes; not seeming to capture his father’s displeasure. “I was wearing it earlier but it got dirty!”

The tiny omega with peachy colored hair pierced him with a glare, “It got dirty because you decided to roll around in the mud in the backyard.”

The young boy scrunches up his nose and Jeonghan wipes his finger at it to try and get the dirt off, “I wasn’t rolling in it! I fell into it!”

The other boy scoffs, “Did you fall in it _before_ or _after_ you decided to make mud angels in it?”

The younger one puffs his chest up but before he can do anything, Jeonghan pulls him away from the other omega and places himself in between them. “That’s enough you two. We have a new family member joining us today so behave yourselves.”

All three of them instantly cast their gazes towards me and I fidget under their stares. My natural instinct was to do a formal bow to them, but then I realized I would look foolish doing so since I’m now technically above them in rank. Instead, I nod simply at them and offer up a kind smile.

“It’s nice to meet all of you. My name is Joshua Hong.”

The youngest one smiles brightly and his face glows with excitement, “My name is Hansol but I like being called Vernon! Are you from the West?”

He leans forward and moves his body around in pure eagerness to hear my response, “Yes, I am from the West.”

Without skipping a beat, he switches over to my native tongue, “I used to have friends from the West but they had to go back home. They use to read their books to me. Will you read some of your books to me? Can you teach me how to speak English perfectly?”

I look at the boy in utter surprise, “Well, to be honest you seem to speak it perfectly already. But if you would like, I will still gladly read some books to you.”

He perks up even more and is about to ask me something else before his father clamps a hand down on his mouth, “Vernon, stop chatting Joshua’s ear off. Let your brothers introduce themselves as well.”

Vernon looks up at his father with a bright smile and the light flooding in through the windows show the absolute happiness radiating in his perfectly golden eyes. He blinked his eyes innocently and I noticed how he had long eyelashes just like the King. Jeonghan tries to give him a stern look, but he couldn’t stop the loving smile from eventually making its way on his face.

The tallest of Jeonghan’s children clears his throat and introduces himself in a deep voice, “It’s wonderful to meet you, Highness. My name is Mingyu.”

He didn’t seem nearly as happy to meet me as the youngest did, but he wasn’t giving off any looks or scents of disdain. Instead, he seemed rather curious but hesitant.

The oldest one stepped forward next for his own introduction, and immediately he pierced me with his heated glare. Although his scent contained no hint of malice; his expression made it clear that he did not like me nor wanted me here. He lifts his sharp featured face up, as if he was looking down at me…as if he could even do such a thing considering how small he was. “My name is Jihoon, but call me Woozi.”

I give a curt nod in response and then direct my eyes back towards Jeonghan, asking him for direction on what to do next. He quickly circles the tables and instructs us all to sit down and get comfortable. Jeonghan grabs my shoulders and forces me to sit down on one side of what was clearly the Kings chair. It was much bigger and grandeur than the rest and strangely enough had a distinct smell of alpha to it. Jeonghan sat on the other side of the large chair, and his children sat on the opposite side of the table. Mingyu sat across from the Empress, Woozi sat in the middle, and Vernon sat across from me which pleased me since he seemed by far the friendliest out of all the children.

“When is papa gonna get here? I’m hungry.” As if on cue the boy’s stomach gurgles in response.

I could see Jeonghan’s eyes fill with fondness for his baby boy, “The King will be here any minute, just be patient.”

Vernon groans and its then that I catch the King’s scent. It was still very faint so he wasn’t too close yet, but it still made the hairs on my arms stand up. As his presence grew closer, my muscles tightened one by one throughout my body and my fangs itched to come out. I focused solely on my breathing to try and keep my heartbeat under control and my mind clear of the instinctual idea to run. I was so focused that I completely missed the small conversation happening between the children and the Empress.

The King suddenly opens the doors on the side of the room the children came in; and our eyes meet instantly. He must have saw the terror and tension radiating off of me…or maybe he smelled it; but either way he instantly retracted his own scent into once again, something I could manage.

His three children turn around in their chairs with confused expressions on their faces, probably wondering why their father was trying to hide his presence from them; as if he was planning to commit a surprise attack or something.

“Papa?” Vernon questions innocently.

The King tears his eyes away from me and smiles brightly as his son. I was struck by how incredibly attractive the King was at that moment; he glowed just at the sight of his own child and his scent filled with the light smell of endearment. His eyes turned up into crescents as he smiled and dimples appeared on his cheeks.

“Hey, where have you been all day? Have you been behaving yourself?”

“Yup!” Vernon cheers happily as his father comes up close to him to hug and give him a kiss. But just as he was leaning down to peck the boy’s head, he pulls back violent and scrunches his nose up in disgust.

“Vernon, were you playing in the mud in the backyard again?”

Vernon frowns and shakes his head, “No.” His tone didn’t sound very convincing and the King himself looked very disbelieving.

“Did you take a bath afterwards?”

“Yes!”

The King raises a doubtful eyebrow, “Jumping into the tub and then jumping right back out does not count as taking a bath.”

Vernon’s shoulders slump and he frowns once again, “In that case then no, I didn’t.”

The King lets out a boisterous laugh at his child’s honesty and hugs him tightly once more; scrunching his nose up while he smiled as the horrible stench of mud hurt his sensitive nose.

He then moved on to his oldest son; calling him his ‘sweet Woozi’ and asking how his day was as he pecked him on top of the head as well. Woozi replied with a simple ‘good’ and let out a small smile. I noticed that he had dimples just like the King himself.

He then patted Mingyu on the shoulder and gave him a peck as well, even though Mingyu protested. He then ruffled his hair and Mingyu pouted in response and angrily tried to fix it.

The King rounded the table and tenderly kissed his husband and I felt like I was intruding on something private by the way they looked at each other.

Finally, for his last stop he gently brushed my shoulder with his fingertips and surprisingly, I did not tense up at the touch. He smiled down at me and I returned it.

“I’ve noticed you’ve changed clothes. They look good on you; red fits you well.”

I cast my eyes down as an abrupt wave of shyness comes over me, “Thank you. I’m glad you like it.”

He takes his seat and instantly the room fills with servants with plates full of food in their hands. They place them gently down in front of all of us and I marvel at the beautiful chinaware. Along the rim of the plates and on the outside of the cups were hand-painted yellow canaries sitting on blooming cherry blossom branches.

Once the food was placed down in front of Vernon, he instantly started shoving it into his mouth at a mile a minute. Jeonghan complained at him to slow down but the King and I couldn’t help but laugh at his enthusiasm. As the King and I share a small laugh together, Woozi’s eyes pierce me with a venomous glare and my laugh gets cut short.

I glance down awkwardly at my food and glance back up to quickly see how everybody else was eating. Even though I had learn basic etiquette as a child; I wasn’t sure if royalty behaved differently when eating dinner. When I didn’t see anything struck me as odd or different, I picked up my own silverware and started to eat as well. I resisted the moan that rose in my throat as I took my first bite. The food was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted before in my life. The meat and vegetables were cooked and seasoned perfectly.

The King directs his attention towards me, “So, Joshua…since you are new to the family why don’t you go ahead and tell us a bit about yourself?”

Before I can speak, Vernon perks up eagerly and answers for me, “His name is Joshua Hong and he is from the West and he is gonna read Western books with me and-“

The King laughs and cuts him off, “Vernon, I asked Joshua to tell me about himself, not you.”

“Oh right, sorry.” Vernon returns back to picking at the vegetables on his plate. He would move them about in a circle on his plate before randomly picking one and popping it in his mouth. I wasn’t quite sure why he kept repeating the process but I figured it was just a weird quirk of his.

“Well, I moved here to the capital only a couple years ago. I grew up as an orphan in the church and traveled with them providing aid to the sickly or injured while spreading gospel about the Gods.”

I search my brain hastily to try and figure out what else I could say. Woozi pursed his lips at me, “how old are you?”

“Oh, I’m the same age as your parents.”

He frowns in distaste, “Isn’t it strange for you to be this old and yet you’ve never bonded with anyone before or had kids?”

Jeonghan gives Woozi a stern look and clears his throat angrily. Just as I’m sure he is about to scold the boy, Vernon looks up from his vegetables and interrupts him, “It’s not weird. Maybe he just doesn’t want to marry anybody.”

Woozi looks harshly at his brother, “What does marriage have anything to do with bonding and having kids?”

Vernon tilts his head in thought, “Doesn’t the Gods say you can’t have kids or bond with another unless you marry them? Isn’t that right?”

He looks to me for confirmation and I nod approvingly, “That’s right. That’s part of the seven main principles.” A proud look covers his face at his correct response.

Woozi returns his gaze back to his father sitting across from him and offers up a wry smile, “I guess that means you won’t be ‘taking him for a spin’ anytime soon then? I guess all the _fun_ you two will be having together will have to wait until after the wedding.”

My eyes along with everyone else’s (except for Vernon’s) widened and looked at Woozi in utter shock. I could see the muscles in the King’s jaw start to work and anger flitted through his black eyes. A sour stench rolled off him as a warning sign; most likely directed at Woozi although the rest of us were close enough to him that we could sense it and feel it ourselves. I was amazed at how the omega didn’t even seemed fazed by his father’s anger and remained solid and unwavering.

“Jihoon.” It was only the child’s name but that alone signaled what he wanted. An apology, or a sign of regret, something from the child that was anything other than defiance. But Woozi was clearly not afraid of his father; which shocked me since the King was most certainly someone to be feared, especially when he is upset.

Woozi’s sharp eyes glare back at his father until he suddenly pierces me with their scorching heat, “I can’t believe you would even think it appropriate to bring your whore to dinner with us.”

The King lets out a deep growl that rumbled like thunder throughout the room. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and an icy chill shoots itself up my spine. There was no way to describe the aura and scent the King gave off but it choked me with fear. It was so thick I could practically see it roll off his body in black, ghostly waves.

I see the Empress grip the arms of his chair tightly and despite the anger on his face he still looked like a beautiful god, “Jihoon, that’s enough.” Jeonghan’s voice was strong and clipped and the sound of it must have been what caused Woozi’s attention to turn from the King and I back to his other father.

A somewhat hurt expression crosses his face, only for a second, before disappearing. He pushes his chair back and stands up abruptly, “I’m excusing myself from the rest of dinner.”

Before he can turn the King’s voice rumbles low and rolls dangerously off his tongue, “You are suppose to ask for permission to be excused.”

Woozi stops in his tracks and turns back to the King, “May I be excused?”

A tense moment passes as Woozi and the rest of us wait to hear the King’s response. After a second, the rumble in his chest cuts off and he leans back in his chair and relaxes his shoulder. A dark look still remains plastered to his face as he mutters out, “Go” to his oldest son.

Woozi turns and makes his exit. Mingyu and Vernon turn in their seats to watch him leave, and Mingyu offhandedly says, “What up with him?”

Vernon supplies him with an answer, “He’s got a stick up his butt.” He says it as if it’s just a simple matter of fact.

I let my head hang and sigh; it was clear that nothing was meant to go right today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I wanna say thank you soooooo much to everyone who commented and subscribed/bookmarked this story! If school wasn't in the way I would have tried to get this chapter up earlier for you guys because you make me feel so happy and pumped and confident!
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this new update (I'm sorry not much happens but I promise smut will be in the next chapter)!
> 
> Please leave a comment telling me what you think!! Or ask a question if you have any and I will respond back as soon as possible!!


	5. Chapter 5

I reach out for my husband’s hand as our eldest son makes his exit from the dining room. Seungcheol rubbed his thumb soothingly over my skin and it settled my restlessness but not the tension within my body. When I came up with this idea I knew it was going to be hard for everybody…but the worst thing about it all was that it hurt everybody that I loved more than it hurt me.

I knew it must pain Seungcheol; the man who loves his kids more than anything else in this world; now being seen by them as a betrayer. It’s even worse that Jihoon is the one that’s retaliating back and voicing his displeasure. I’m not _surprised_ that it’s Jihoon (he was always the more outspoken one of our children) but I knew his words and action would cut deep with Seungcheol.

The King has always been more than overprotective of our eldest son. Jihoon was born prematurely and he was frighteningly small at first. The doctors expressed their fear to us that the child wouldn’t make it; that ‘he’s an omega and they are already weaker to begin with.’ To say the least, both Seungcheol and I were distressed, to the point we couldn’t sleep or eat and instead watched over our son 24/7. Seungcheol never left that baby’s side, even after the doctors gave us good news and said the child seemed healthy and had better chances for survival. He took Jihoon to work, he slept with him, he bathed with him. He never let that child escape his sight and wouldn’t let anyone hold him besides me.

I guess it was just his parental instincts, fueling him to keep his child close where he could better protect him. I think he was scared…scared that if he looked away his son would be lost to him. It took a lot of time before he calmed down and started letting Jihoon grow to become a bit more independent. But even so; out of all our children he still tried to shelter Jihoon the most.

Seungcheol squeezes my hand and I snap back to reality. It seems supper was now progressing into dessert and Vernon was practically bouncing in his seat. I smile fondly and treasure the moment, knowing it wouldn’t be much longer till he reached adulthood and lost all his rambunctious energy and innocence. He seemed to be doing the most talking at the dinner table, explaining to everyone all the interesting stuff he had learned in his classes today. He practically glowed with youth and life. I was glad to see one person was not upset over the new addition to the family…but then again, Vernon probably didn’t understand what Joshua’s arrival implied.

I glance over at Mingyu, who was mostly quiet for the whole of supper. I could see the confusion swirl in his eyes as he looked from Joshua to his father, and occasionally to me. He didn’t seem overly upset or angry, but there was a slight sadness to the set of his mouth. He didn’t have any negative feelings towards Joshua, nor did he probably think him a bad guy…but he didn’t understand why he was there. I could see the question rise up in his eyes as he looked at the King, ‘why’? ‘Why do you need him? Aren’t your children and husband enough? Why do you need him?’

He didn’t understand that it wasn’t the King who needed Joshua, it was I. I was the betrayer in the family…but I was doing it because I thought it for the best.

I glance sideways over at Joshua; watching as the sunlight got caught in his pretty eyes. His plush lips would turn up slightly every time Vernon said something, clearly amused by the younger boy’s words. He was the perfect mixture between being pretty and handsome.

I could relate to how he felt currently; knowing just how stressed both his mind and body must feel. And I knew it was only going to get worse, all the pressure he’s about to face could break him. And knowing all of that, I wish I could say I plan to go easy on him, but I can’t…

I look over to Joshua and frown. Mentally I speak to him, ‘you see Joshua, I have an agenda to accomplish, and you are the most important key to making it successful. It’s not like I want to push you…but I have to. For my family’s happiness and safety, I need you to give me what I want.’

As if sensing my inner monologue directed at him, he turns his gaze over to me. His dark lashes flutter and he smiles shyly at me. I return it and I see some life return to his gaze. After Woozi’s rant, I’m sure he wasn’t feeling too good. I’ll make sure to show him my support; he wasn’t to blame for any of this. He was just someone innocent who got pulled into someone else’s master plan.

I return my attention back to the dessert placed down in front of me, and try my best to focus and interact with the conversation taking place. Internally, I reassured myself constantly that everything was going to be okay, things will get better. And before I knew it, time passed like a blur and dinner was over.

The King stood, signaling it was now time to part ways and head off to bed. Vernon yawned and gave both his father and I a hug; which was amusing since Seungcheol’s faced showed just how awful his son smelled in that moment. He reminded Vernon to go take a proper bath before heading off to bed. Vernon nodded and surprisingly enough, he rounded the King and gave Joshua a hug as well. The Highness was clearly taken aback by the sudden affection, but he smiled warmly and wished Vernon ‘sweet dreams’.

Mingyu gave me a warm hug and a peck on the cheek, and hugged Seuncheol as well. He looked over awkwardly at Joshua and bowed stiffly, before taking his exit.

Once both of them were out of sight, I make my way over to Joshua’s side, “You must be exhausted. Let us guide you back to your room.”

He nodded and smiled gratefully. I linked my arm with his and then offered up my other arm for Seungcheol to take. The King smiled and took his place by my side. As we walked down the winding halls back to our room, I felt strangely content with my place between the two men. Seungcheol was strong and kind, offering protection and love. Joshua was gentle and pure, offering loyalty and sweetness.

It brought me great happiness to see and hear them speak respectfully to one another. The King seemed to have no ill feelings towards Joshua and was only welcoming and supportive to him. Joshua in return, was now much less scared of the King and seemed appreciative of his friendly nature. I could see that there would be no reason for them to not get along; of course, unless tensions somehow started to arise between the three of us…

Before I can dwell too long on that dark thought, we stop at Joshua’s bedroom door and wish him goodnight. Part of me wanted to sleep with him tonight; not in any sexual manner but more out of comfort. The natural parental instinct within me wanted to cuddle the boy; such as what I used to do with my own children when they had nightmares at night. But I knew it was better to keep some distance for now; to approach the boy slowly so he wouldn’t be scared off or become more overwhelmed than he already is.

After we say our goodbyes, Seungcheol leads me over to his own room; or I guess really I should say ‘our room’. Generally, the King possessed his own room and so did both the Empress and Highness. I guess this was so the King could lie with whoever he chose to that night, and it wouldn’t inconvenience anyone. However, I haven’t slept in my own room for years now. The only time I enter it is to change clothes or when I go into heat.

To be honest, I hated my own room and preferred Seuncheol’s infinitely more. My room was gray, black, and white. No color and no warmth. It was the complete opposite of the King’s bedroom. The walls and furniture were white and mocha colored and the carpet laid out on the floor was a warm chocolate color. Caramel silk blankets and pillows laid strewn about the bed. Occupying that space with them was a dark brown, fur blanket that was so large it practically covered the whole expanse of the bed. I knew that Seungcheol favored the feel of that blanket over all others and when he was away on trips, I would always curl up and sleep with it since it smelled so much like him.

Fur blankets such as this were expensive to make, but Seungcheol was an experienced hunter and it didn’t take him long to collect enough pelts to make it. Since we didn’t need the meat, he gave it all away to the poor and starving during the winter time, when it was hardest to come by food. He had only made one more fur blanket in his lifetime, a gray one that was considered the softest and most beautiful in all the Kingdoms. It was given to me by him as a wedding gift; something made by his own hands and was absolutely priceless. It laid neatly in one of the chairs in the corner of his room. I didn’t use it too frequently since I felt it was something to be treasured and saved for special moments. For each of my pregnancies, I used that blanket to keep warm throughout the day. And after each of my births, all three of my sons were wrapped in that blanket as I rocked them to sleep.

I smile fondly at all the memories and Seuncheol’s plush lips kissing my bare shoulder bring me out of my reverie. “You seemed to have been lost in thought all throughout dinner and even now. Care to share what you are thinking?”

He steps away from me and starts to strip from his clothes. Since Joshua was no longer among us, he stops repressing his scent and it fills the room quickly. I revel in the feel of it as it caresses my body and I direct my gaze towards my husband with hooded eyes.

“I’m just worried. Mainly about you…Woozi and Joshua.”

“Me?” He gives me a curious look while stripping off the rest of the clothes on his upper body. I’m met with the sight of sculpted abs and arms. Both arms were covered in a sleeve of tattoos. One depicting the god of war sending rain from the heavens down on a field of flowers; each one representing a life he has taken during war. The other arm was symbolic of our children; at the top was an owl (representing Woozi), below it was a bear looking for fish in a pond (Mingyu), and last was a dragonfly perched on a water lily (Vernon).

Since there was no more room on his one arm to record any more lives taken, his back was now covered by a large tree. Scattered sparsely among the branches were leaves, each one representing another death. My own back was also covered; except I had dream catchers instead of a large tree. At the top of my back, a large dream catcher swayed in the wind; and hanging from it was another smaller dream catcher placed along my lower back. Instead of leaves, I used beads and feathers to symbolize more lives lost to this world. Sometimes it’s scary to think of how many of these images cover our bodies…even more frightening is picturing how many more will be there by the time we reach our own deaths.

“Why are you surprised? Isn’t in natural that I feel concern towards you?”

He stills in the action of loosening his pants and looks up at me with his dark eyes, “Well why don’t you share your concern and we can see if I can clear it.”

He steps closer to me and lays his hands gently on my upper arms. He kisses me tenderly on the lips before brushing my hair over my shoulder and placing another kiss on my pulse. “I’m afraid I can’t explain all my concerns so easily to you, I don’t think I quite know the words…”

His lips now place themselves on my forehead gently before pulling back and smiling, “Well, you can take as much time as you need to find the words. I’ll be here to listen when you’re ready.”

My lips upturn naturally and I press myself against his bare chest and wrap my arms tightly around him. I lay my head in the crook of his neck and he rests his head on top of mine. His strong arms encircle my own body in return and in that moment, I felt like everything was going to be alright. Our love is going to keep us together.

“I’m sorry I’m the reason Woozi is upset with you. I know it may feel like he is seeing you as the bad guy but he loves you just as much as the rest of us and please don’t be too mad at him. Please understand he’s just lost.”

Seungcheol laughs and the vibration it causes in his chest spreads throughout my own body. “I’m not mad at him. I will admit, I didn’t like how he behaved at dinner today, it was wildly inappropriate…but I’m not mad. I know he’s a good kid, and I know he’s just trying to protect you which is why I’m proud of him. He’s a good son; a loving son, and you don’t need to worry about him and I. We will work everything out eventually.”

I run my hands along the length of his back and enjoy the feel of his muscles under my fingertips, “You know you are the most perfect man in the world, right?”

He laughs loudly and it sounds like heaven in my ears, “I believe we could have a very heated debate over that, but I figure I should just give up to you now and save the effort since I’ve never won an argument against you anyways.”

I hum lowly and smile wickedly, “That’s right, what’s the score now exactly? 120 to 0?”

He huffs playfully, “Don’t rub it in my face you jerk.”

We both laugh at that for a second and I pull back slightly so I can better look at his face. He is so handsome and I can’t resist the urge to bring my hands around and cup his strong jaw. Giving in to my desires, I press forward in order to kiss him. However, he stops me before our lips touch.

“May I ask you something, before things get heated with us? Since things always get heated between us when we are left alone in a room together.”

I pout slightly at being stopped from getting what I wanted, but I look up to Seungcheol expectantly, waiting to hear his question.

“Joshua…why him?” He looks away from me as he asks the question and I feel a pang in my heart when I hear the words fall from his mouth. He glances back and sees my expression and instantly tries to calm me down, “I’m not upset or anything or even worried about how he may affect our relationship. I’m just…curious. I want to know your reasoning for picking him.”

I pull my lip in between my teeth and shrug my shoulders slightly, “He was the perfect candidate. He’s got a decent education since he can both read and write, and has even learned about medicine. He’s been a very virtuous person and has lived a kind and wholesome life. I even feel like I can trust him being around my own children.”

Seungcheol frowns and sets me with his serious gaze, “If that all? It’s okay…if there’s more than just that. In fact, I rather there be more than just that.”

I shake my head at him, “Why?”

He shrugs, “I would want you to choose someone who you feel a connection to; not just whoever the perfect candidate is. I want you to feel comfortable and like the person who you might bare a child with. As someone who loves you…it’s not strange that I want you to pick someone who makes you happy or makes you feel loved.”

I look at my husband in disbelief, “You really are the most perfect man in the world.”

He laughs, “You can’t imagine how good it feels to hear you say that. You should say it to me more often.”

I smile flirtatiously, “How often?”

“Every night. In fact, I might pass a law which makes it mandatory for you to do so. Before we go to bed you have to say it, okay?”

I shake my head and chuckle at him, “You’re ridiculous.” He agrees with me and finally kisses my lips. I pull back and look him straight in the face, “I’ll be honest with you…about Joshua. I do feel something for him; although its small and not what I feel towards you. It’s just that sometimes…the way he looks at me; it reminds me of how you used to look at me when we were younger.”

Seungcheol raises his brow in question, “How I used to look at you? What do you mean by that?”

“Well, I mean how you used to look at me as if I was this perfect angel sent from above or something…even though I was covered in mud, had chicken legs, and my hair looked like a bird’s nest.”

I look at him with a flat look and he strokes my face lovingly, “You were the most beautiful mud-covered angel with bird-nest hair and chicken legs that I had ever seen.”

I roll my eyes but can’t help but smile, “I smelled like shit.”

He gives me a fake look of disbelief, “Did you? To be honest, I didn’t even notice.”

I laugh and shove him away from me. He smiles at my playfulness and follows me with his eyes as I walk over to the single vanity in the room. I flip my hair over my shoulder and look at myself in the mirror. I slide my hands sensuously down my body; pretending I was trying to smooth out the creases in my outfit but really I just wanted to watch Seungcheol follow the movement with his own eyes. My own gaze trailed down his body as well; paying special attention to his dark happy trail and his well defined pelvic bone. I then settle my gaze where I knew his manhood lay hidden beneath his low hanging pants.

He walks over to me slowly and settles himself behind me. He pulls my long hair out of the way and starts trailing wet kisses along the length of my neck. Shamelessly, I press my ass back against his crotch and grind myself against him. Naturally, his hands place themselves on my hips and he returns my grinding motion with his own.

I give him a sultry look over my shoulder, “Will you make love to me?”

He huffs out a chuckle, “Of course I will. What sort of man would I be to refuse such a request?”

I let out a low, seductive chuckle and tilt my head back awkwardly so I could kiss him. His lips pry open my mouth and his tongue strokes my own sensuously. As the kiss becomes more heated, his hands start to explore the length of my body. I let out a moan and place my hands on the vanity table top to steady myself.

I can feel Seungcheol’s dick harden as he continues to grind against the curve of my ass. I feel a heat of desire spread through me as I imagine how great it will feel later inside of me. My thighs begin to quiver and my own sweetness reaches my nose. I break the kiss as the lack of air in my lungs becomes too much and Seungcheol now moves his mouth to one of my ears. I let out a high pitched whimper as he nibbles on the lobe and gently licks the outer curve. His hot breath puffs against the cool wetness and my eyes roll behind my lids.

Gently, with one hand he runs his fingers along my soft, inner thigh. They journey farther up its length until they make contact with my laced-clothed hardness. He cups my hardened cock and starts massaging it slowly. I let out another loud and needy moan and tilt my head to the side, exposing my vulnerable neck to him. The King doesn’t hesitate to bite it gently and starts leaving his marks of claim all over the pale, sensitive skin. My body freezes and doesn’t risk any sort of moment as he does it; inwardly knowing that his powerful jaws were very close to my most weakest point.

Knowing that I was in no state to fight him; Seungcheol starts to add more pressure to his massaging hand. My mouth false open and numerous, embarrassing noises escape me as that hand presses father back and a single finger rubs my entrance. I feel my wetness seep through my underwear and make contact with Seungcheol’s fingers and he lets out a deep, hungry growl. Before, I could gradually feel the lust warm his scent and fill the room with a cinnamon like smell. But now it suddenly spikes with a sharp scent of burning wood and I open my eyes to look at Seungcheol’s reflection in the mirror. As I had expected, his eyes were on me and they had the look of a predator within them.

He retracts his hand and pulls back just enough to spin me around. He tugs on the bottom of my short kimono, “You better take this off now before I rip it off.”

I let out a breathy laugh, “Don’t do that. This is new and I like it.” I reach up to the lacings that descended down my neck and the side of my chest and started untying them. As they loosened, the fabric parted to reveal my shoulder and collar bone. Seungcheol instantly attacked the skin with his lips and teeth. His hands grab the bottom of the short outfit and start pushing it up along my torso. As he gets it to my upper chest, I help him out by lifting my arms and he pulls the fabric over my head and tosses it to some random corner of the room.

His mouth trails farther down until he takes one of my nipples in between his lips. I toss my head back and place my hands on his broad shoulders as he rolls the nub in between his teeth and swipes it with his warm tongue. Soft mewls leave my mouth and I can tell the sound excites Seungcheol to no end. After being together for so many years, we’ve both discovered the most sensitive parts of one another as well as each other’s kinks. Seungcheol is very auditory; he loves the sound of sex. The louder it is, the more he loses control.

I, on the other hand, am very visual. I love to see the expanse of bare skin and the faces of pleasure. I love to watch as they slowly come undone.

It was that desire to watch that made me pull my hair back with one of my hands and look down as Seungcheol finally dropped to his knees and puffed hotly against my clothed cock. He grabbed my lacy underwear and for a second I thought he was gonna rip it off. But instead, he just aggressively pulled it down my thighs and let it slip the rest of the way to pool at my ankles.

With a large but surprisingly soft hand, he grips my length tightly at the base. With the hand not holding my own hair up; I slide my fingers through Seungcheol’s dark locks and grip them gently. My hips tense in anticipation, expecting him to slip my length into his warm mouth. But Seungcheol liked to surprise me, and instead he dipped his head and watched my reaction as he wetly slide his tongue along the underside of my balls.

I let out a surprised gasp before moaning his name lowly. He smiled slightly at that and started tracing circular patterns along them with his tongue. I felt my muscles tighten in pleasure and a burning heat settles itself hotly in the pit of my stomach. I feel my wetness start to overflow and it drips itself down my thighs. Seungcheol dips his head so he can follow one of the sweet trails with his tongue. Instantly, his eyes flash and a deep, animalistic growl rumbles like thunder in his chest.

“Seungcheol,” I let his name roll off my tongue and it comes out breathless and wanting. My hips rock eagerly in search of friction. The King hasn’t moved his hand at the base of my cock once; and it strained in his grip and throbbed hotly.

He gives me a knowing look, “You seem quite eager today. More so than usual.” He lets go of my cock with his hand and instead licks it from the base to the tip in one slow movement.

My body shudders and I shake my head at him, “I’m always eager for you, aren’t I?”

He hums thoughtfully and stares intently as a bead of precum appears at the tip of my cock. He looks up at me with hooded eyes and smirks, “Usually you’re such a tease. But you’re quite pliant tonight.”

I lick my lips and Seungcheol follows the movement with his hot gaze. “The night is still very young; don’t get too cocky now. I may tease you quite cruelly later on.”

He smiles and laughs, “Is that a threat?”

I shrug a shoulder innocently and smirk, “Are you brave enough to find out?” His answer was to immediately engulf me with his warm mouth and I smile triumphantly before moaning loud just like a whore. Internally I thought, ‘good boy, you made the right choice once again’, but part of me was still sad that he didn’t try to push me farther, just so I had an excuse later to have some extra fun with him.

A burning flush rises up my neck and face as Seungcheol massages my cock with the warm walls of his mouth. Instinctively, my hips jerk forward and my cock strikes the back of his throat. He chokes slightly and grips my hips firmly with his hands to keep me from moving. He sends me a small glare and I respond with an innocent giggle and a soft stroke to his hair to show I’m sorry.

Instead of humming to show he forgives me, a deep growl comes out instead and the vibrations it sends up my length causes my toes to curl. That low rumbles continues on as Seungcheol increases his pace and bobs his head faster than before. The increased friction along with the vibrations causes me to see stars. My thighs start quivering to the point where it’s hard to stand and my heart races in my chest.

Seungcheol takes one of his hands off my hips and slides his fingers over my entrance. Immediately, he slips one of his long fingers inside of me without any resistance. He quickly slides it in and out a couple times before adding a second finger. They stretch me slowly as they go deeper and I try to rock back on them but Seungcheol keeps me still.

As he fingers me gently from behind, my eyes stayed glued to Seungcheol’s plush lips as they engulf my length before withdrawing themselves slowly, over and over again. They were turning from a light pink to a flushed red along with his cheeks. Saliva and precum covered those soft lips along with my pulsing cock; and when some dribbled down his chin, I made sure to wipe it away with my finger before placing it in my own mouth; letting the salty taste linger on my tongue. Seungcheol watches the action with lustful eyes.

It’s then that I feel his fingers curl inside of me and stroke my most sensitive spot. A high pitched whine escapes from my throat and my cock twitches in Seugcheol’s mouth. Seungcheol prodded the tender spot relentlessly and incoherent mewls and pleas continued to pour from my mouth. Seungcheol chuckles deeply before sucking as hard as he can and dragging his tight lips all the way from base to tip. My eyes roll and I hear myself mutter, “I’m going to cum” before the King completely retracts himself.

Every tightened muscle in my body relaxes as all source of simulation is taken away within a second. I open my mouth to voice a complaint but am stopped when Seungcheol suddenly spins me around and presses me against the vanity once more. With his one arm, he reaches forward just enough to swipe everything on the top of the vanity to the floor. Too consumed by lust, neither of us cared about the resounding sound of shattering glass. He hikes one of my legs up on the now clear vanity top and grabs me by the ankle so I can’t move. It left me in a very vulnerable position; trapped between two objects and my legs spread for easy access.

I crane my neck back to see Seungcheol untie the knot at the top of his pants and lets them drop down to his ankles. His large and thick cock stands tall and ready with precum leaking from it profusely. Now free from its constraint, its heady smell hits me instantly and my mouth begins to salivate. I quickly swallow as much as I can so I don’t end up drooling on myself; something I have embarrassingly done before.

The thick and powerful scent made my head spin and body arch in lust. A sudden ache arises in both my jaw and my entrance as I had the desire to both taste and have his cock in me at the same time. Sadly, such a thing is not possible.

As strange as it sounds, the best way I could describe the alpha scent was it reminded me of fire and ash. Burning wood was the closest thing I could come up with in my head. But still there lingered the warm scent of vanilla on the King. That light scent never left him completely, no matter the situation. It added a sort of creaminess to the air that made me lick my lips in anticipation.

He lines up the tip of his cock with my entrance but doesn’t thrust it forward. He brushes my hair to the side and his slick mouth presses to my sensitive ear, “Open your eyes. Watch yourself in the mirror.”

Not even realizing I had closed my eyes, I open them in surprise and see my own reflection. I looked wrecked, in a good but somewhat slutty way. My expression can only be described as the exact definition of lust and pleasure. My nipples were hard along with my swollen cock, and my hips naturally arched themselves back in desperation to have Seungcheol quickly enter me. I cast my eyes quickly away from the picture in slight embarrassment, but Seungcheol turns my head back with a gentle hand.

“Watch. You’re the most beautiful thing to watch when it comes to this.”

My lashes flutter before I once again follow his order and gaze upon myself in the reflection. I watch Sengcheol’s face in the mirror as well; his eyes stay trained on me as he finally pushes himself inside of me. My mouth falls open at the thick but welcomed intrusion. He doesn’t go easy on me and quickly thrusts himself to the hilt, striking a part deep within my body that I had never felt before.

After the initial shock that caused my muscles to tighten, they then relaxed themselves to the point where it felt like I was melting. It almost seemed as if my body was opening itself up; not putting up any resistance and instead trying to take Seungcheol in as far as he can go. At that point I could no longer hold myself up and the only thing keeping me up straight was Seungcheol’s arm that crossed itself across my chest, and the vanity below me.

Seungcheol presses his muscled torso against my back and starts to fiercely drive his hips into me. Although it was hard to keep my eyes open, I continued to watch the whole thing take place in the mirror. I watched at how my body took the beating Seungcheol delivered to it; watched at how much pleasure it gained from the way his thick cock would thrust itself deeper and deeper. I didn’t dare to try and touch my cock, I wouldn’t even brush a single fingertip against it. I knew such an act would set me off and I would cum and all of this would be over; and I didn’t want it to be over. I just wanted to bask in the heavenly pleasure of it all. Even though it was overwhelming to the point where it felt like it was choking me; to the point my head had no thoughts except for the pleasure being delivered to my body. I probably couldn’t even remember my own name right now.

Seungcheol’s tongue makes contact with my feverish skin as he starts to suck and leave hickeys along my shoulders and neck. I could tell the wet sound of his dick fucking into me, along with my broken whines and moans were starting to get to him. Little by little he was losing more of his sense of control.

The slapping sound of his hips striking my ass with each of his thrusts intensifies as he starts to pound into me harder than before. The tip of his cock strikes a tender spot deep within me and my breath completely catches in my throat. I feel a fierce bolt of pleasure shoot itself through every part of my body and I can feel a sharp tingling sensation in my canines before I feel my fangs quickly release themselves.

My hand raises itself to my mouth in surprise and I can see Seungcheol’s eyes in the mirror looking at me intently. His hand reaches to pry my own away and I fight him rather uselessly for a second. With his other hand, he cranes my head back so he can look me in the eyes, “Stop holding back. Cum for me.”

He leans down to kiss me; not minding the sharp weapons currently occupying a space in my mouth. Seungcheol instead rubbed his tongue sensuously against one of them, causing a sharp sensation to shoot through my jaw and like that I came violently. I practically scream into Seungcehol’s mouth as my orgasm overtakes my body. My hole tightens itself on Seungcheol’s hard cock to the point he can no longer move his hips. Cum shoots forth over the clear vanity top and even marks the lower section of the mirror. Through hazed eyes, I can see Seungcheol look down upon me as I come undone beneath him. My body shudders violently as ropes and ropes of cum spill out of me and even once my orgasm is over, I remain there leaning all my weight against Seungcheol as I try to regain my breath and come to my senses.

Seungcheol withdraws his cock from inside of me but still remains close enough to support me so I don’t go collapsing to the floor. Even in my dazed afterglow, I realize his actions are strange. I twist my head to look over my shoulder, “Why did you stop? You haven’t come yet.”

It was then that I noticed why Seungcheol withdrew himself. Before me, my  husband was now practically more beast than man. Although neither his fangs nor claws had yet protruded, I could see it took all his willpower to keep them contained. His eyes were what gave him away, as they were filled with only beastly hunger and looked at me as a predator looks at its prey. Sometimes, the aggressive and dominant alpha would spring forth within Seungcheol; and every time he refused to give into it when I was around. He always feared that he may hurt me, but I knew better. I knew that no matter what state of mind he was in; he would never try to intentionally hurt me.

I shake my head and weakly turn myself around to face him. I press my body to his and gently push him backwards toward the bed. Even though I could barely stand, let alone walk; Seungcehol still let me guide his tense body. He wrapped his arms loosely around me; offering support but not wanting to grip too hard in the fear that he might leave bruises.

I shake my head at him, “You silly, beastly man of mine. I’m no china doll.”

I push him down onto the bed and crawl on top of him. His voice sounds more like a growl than words themselves but I can still understand him, “I know. But still…”

I tsk at him before kissing him gently. I reach back and grip his cock and stroke him slowly. He grunts at the action and grips the fur blanket underneath him.

“Fine then. Since you’re so worried, just lie there like that and let me take care of _this_.” I jerk his cock roughly to emphasis my words.

I lean back, preparing myself to sit down on his thick cock when I think twice about my actions. I swing my leg around and instead turn my body so my ass and back are now facing Seungcheol’s face. I know from past experiences that if he accidently knots me, this position would be more preferable than the other.

I sit down slowly and Seungcheol’s eyes have the perfect view to watch me take him in. He moans out my name before throwing his head back and thrusting up into me. I smile as I look over my shoulder to watch how the toned muscles underneath his sweaty skin flexed themselves to keep from moving. I reach back and rub a soothing hand over them so that they can relax.

I then raise my hips slowly before sliding back down his long length. I continue to look over my shoulder the whole time so I can watch; and Seungcheol’s jaw works relentlessly as I bounce on top of him. I ‘tsk’ at him in my head at his stubbornness to hold back.

I change tactics and stop bouncing my hips and instead start to body roll. Finally, the King’s mouth falls open and he lets out a sweet moan. My heart swelled a bit at the sound of it and I knew there was no denying I was in love with this man.

I reach back to grab his balled up fists and place them against my hips, “Come on baby, I want you to touch me.”

Seungcheol opens his closed eyes and does as I command. He unfurls his fingers and with the lightest touch, caresses the skin over my hip bones. Internally I once more question how this man could ever think he could hurt me; when he was nothing short of being the sweetest man alive.

I could feel his hips sporadically moving underneath me, trying their best to stay still when all they wanted was to thrust up into me. “Now fuck me honey. Come on, I know you want to.”

Seungcheol grunts and turns his head to the side, “Jeonghan…”

I know his next words would be along the lines of either ‘no’ or ‘I can’t’ so I quickly shush him. “Come on baby, just a little bit. Fuck me gently.”

Seungcheol moans low in his throat and I knew I had won. He rolls his hips up gently into me and I make sure to moan loudly so he can hear it, knowing the sound would get to him.

He makes a noise in his throat, “Are you trying to push me?”

“Yes,” I admit honestly.

He lets out a laugh of disbelief before shaking his head and continuing to fuck me. I try to increase the pace by rolling my own hips faster and Seungcheol keeps up with ease. His moans grow louder and louder until suddenly they turn into quiet growls and that’s when I know he is close.

I moan enthusiastically, “That’s right, cum inside me.” He arches his back and his hot seed shoots deep within me and fills my entire body with warmth. He lets out a filthy moan along with it which pleases me even more. No other person in the whole kingdom can say they ever heard such a dirty and lustful sound come out of the King’s mouth before.

I wait until he releases his last string of cum before turning around and laying myself over his panting chest. I kiss him softly and he opens his eyes and kisses me back fiercely. He flips me over so now he’s on top of me and continues to heatedly kiss me; our tongues and lips sinfully dancing together. The fur blanket underneath me is soft and smells like home, and Seungcheol’s warm body covers me and makes me feel protected. In that moment, I knew that there was no place else I’d rather be than here in his arms.

We continued to make-out as our high slowly faded away. Passionate kisses gradually turn into lazy ones and we gaze happily at one another.

“I love you”

I smile and hug him tightly, “I love you too.”

He stokes my hair lovingly and kisses my forehead, “I can see your tired now. Go to sleep.”

I sigh and curl myself closer to him, “Will you stay?”

He hums, “Of course. I’ll be here when you awake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for smut!!!!!! Sorry for getting this chapter up sorta late; smutty chapters always give me a hard time.
> 
> Thank you soooooo much to everyone who has commented and bookmarked/subscribed to this story!!! Stuff like this makes me feel so good inside and really I can't thank you guys enough for it <3
> 
> Please feel free to leave a comment telling me what you think!! Or ask a question if you have any and I will respond back as soon as possible!!


	6. Chapter 6

After dinner, there was nothing more I rather do than just sleep and forget everything. My day had been stressful, even if there were some good bits sprinkled throughout it. I had come to the conclusion I liked the Empress and King. They were a wonderful, kind, gorgeous couple and I didn’t quite know yet where my presence exactly fit into everything that involved them; but I had decided I would do my best to keep them happy. I mean, it’s not like I had any other choice. Whether I liked it or not, it was decided I am to be the new Highness, and I can’t escape from either the Empress or King if they so wish to interact with me. And even though I would like to believe Jeonghan’s words, that I had a choice to consent to everything they asked of me; I myself did not feel that was the case. How could I just simply refuse to obey the Empress or King’s wishes? They are the most powerful people in this entire Kingdom and no one defies them…mainly because it’s illegal to do so.

I wipe all the make-up off my face with the basin full of water placed on my vanity. I look at my reflection and wonder just why it had to be me. Someone as plain and ordinary as me. But I didn’t try to dwell or think too hard about it. It would be best to just try and accept things as they are now, even though that’s a lot harder than it sounds. It’s not like there weren’t good things that came with all this new added stress.

I was essentially living a life of luxury now; although I never really cared much for materialistic things. But I will admit it’s nice to take a warm bath, eat a delicious meal, sleep in a comfortable bed and never worry about when you will get to do so again. Plus, even though I have to obey the King and Empress’s orders, I don’t have to listen to anybody else now. I’m the third most powerful person in the world; and essentially can do almost whatever I want. But then again, I’ve never really been all that power-hungry before.

I would say the best thing to come out of this was I now essentially had a family…granted not all the members liked me very much but it’s not like I can blame them. That’s probably the only thing given to me that I’ve ever truly wanted. I admit, for a while I thought I would forever remain alone. I thought I would die unmarried and having raised no children. But now I am set to marry the King, and I also have Jeonghan who is lovely in every sense of the word, and although their children are not mine…they are still something like children to me. Especially Vernon, to which my heart ached every time I looked at him because he was so pure but so close to reaching the end of his innocence. Seungkwan was like that too when I first met him. He had only become an official adult a couple months back, but even I admit he was quite mature before then and many mistaken him for being older than he was; despite his round and youthful face.

I pouted slightly as I thought back to his earlier betrayal this morning; abandoning me to face my fate alone. Honestly, it was kind of comedical when I think about it now; his facial expression was priceless. And I guess I can’t be too hard on him; it’s not like he could have done anything in the situation. But still…he gave up on me pretty quickly.

I roll my shoulders and massage the aches in them. I undress quickly and crawl into bed in only my underwear. The sheets were smooth against my skin; and they felt especially good against my newly shaven legs. For a couple of minutes I just lied there and rubbed them together, marveling at how pleasant it felt.

The bed was the softest thing I had ever laid my body down on and it molded itself nicely to my body’s curves. I knew that I would probably experience the best sleep of my life in a bed like this; and I probably will wake up tomorrow with no soreness in my muscles. I close my eyes happily and sigh, very much excited to get some much needed rest.

…And that’s when the moans started. My eyes instantly flew open and my jaw dropped. They were quiet moans, but I could still hear them. Despite them being muffled; I knew exactly who the owners of the voices were. My bed was pressed against the wall that separated my room from the King’s, and that’s exactly the direction the voices came from.

I feel my face heat up in a blush and I shake my head. I try closing my eyes once more and just ignoring the sounds. But Jeonghan’s voice only continued to get louder and louder. Although I knew it was wrong and intrusive to stay there and listen; I will admit I was quite curious. Maybe my own lust directed towards Jeonghan is what drove me to heighten my senses so I could hear him better; but in many ways I regretted doing such a thing. Doing an act like this…was not something that I would ever do.

As much as people liked to paint me innocent; I knew and wanted more than I let on. Of course I knew what sex was and I knew how it worked; despite the fact I was a virgin. And yes, I had my own desires and fantasies and I have woken up in the night with my body begging me to find some sort of release. But I never let myself give in to such things; because the Gods said it was meant to be done only after marriage. So I turned my attention away from such acts; not because they disgusted me or that I found them wrong; but because it was easier to resist them that way.

Which is why it was so surprising that now; instead of covering my head with a pillow or doing something to get rid of the sound; I laid there and let myself listen. Sex was a confusing thing to me. So many people say it’s the greatest thing in this world, and yet I hear so many wives on a daily basis saying how they are never satisfied when they do it and wish their husband would stop demanding they fuck so much. Plenty of them admit to just faking it so it will end quicker for them.

However, the rawness in Jeonghan’s voice left me with no doubt that the pleasure he was feeling was not one of pretend. Whatever the King was doing to his husband…he was doing it well. The King…was quieter although I could still hear him on occasion. He let out grunts and growls, which hit me deep in the gut but left behind a pleasant feeling. That was the shocking part about the whole ordeal in my eyes. Even though it was my desire for the Empress that caused me to pause and listen; the King himself was also causing me to feel quite hot and bothered.

As my body and mind drew closer and closer to exhaustion; my ears stayed perked and alert to the lovemaking happening next door. Behind my closed eyelids; I imagined just how they entwined their bodies, how they rocked against each other, and how their bodies would tense and bend once they reached their finish. It was an alluring image; one I didn’t usually let myself indulge in. And before I finally drifted off to sleep; after listening to Jeonghan’s choked but obvious scream of release and the King’s resounding growl; I pictured myself enjoying the pleasure with them. How did I fit into the picture? Would I be pushed between them? Would I only be allowed to touch the Empress? Or would the King also press his body against mine and drive himself into me? Would I like that? I didn’t really know…

\------------------------------------------

I woke up the next morning to light filtering in through the gaps in the curtains. I moaned quietly and stretched out my limbs. I had never woken up and felt so pleasant before.

“Are you finally awake?” I turn my head to see Jeonghan sitting on the edge of my bed, dressed only in a scarlet robe with a black, intricate design on it. But even though the Empress wasn’t wearing many clothes; he was still wearing more than me.

I look down at my naked chest and reach down to grab the sheets pooled at my waist and drag them up to my chin. I blush at Jeonghan and mumble, “I’m sorry.”

Jeonghan raises an eyebrow and sets the book he must have been reading before I had awoken, down on the bedside table. “Why are you sorry? There’s no need to be so shy, I sleep in a very similar fashion.”

I run my hand nervously through my messy bed hair, “I just…would have tried to make myself look more presentable.”

Jeonghan lets out a chuckle, “I plan to mess you up by the end of the day anyway so don’t go wasting your effort.” He sends me a wink before grabbing a silver tray off the nightstand and placing it gently between the both of us on the bed. He takes off the silver top covering it to reveal two plates holding a nice, warm breakfast and two cups carrying steaming tea.

My mouth waters at the sight and Jeonghan smiles at me. “I’m a firm believer that breakfast in bed is the best way to start the day. Here, dig in with me.” He hands me my utensils and for a minute I’m not sure where to begin. Do I eat the egg first? The fluffy pancake? The steamed vegetables?

Before I can decide, Jeonghan reaches over and pulls the sheets out of my one fist so my naked chest is once again exposed to him. “Stop covering yourself, I’ve already ogled you all morning and I plan to keep doing so.”

I laugh nervously and once more run my hands through my hair. Before I can stop myself I blurt out, “It’s not fair that I’m the only one like this.”

I bite my tongue and mentally smack myself for saying such a thing. But Jeonghan only smiles slyly and playfully tugs on his robe, “Would you like me to take this off then? I’m afraid our breakfast will be put off to a later time though if I do so.”

I shake my head frantically, “No no no! You’re fine! I was just…it’s okay, let just eat!” I quickly reach for whatever was closest to me and shove it in my mouth.

Jeonghan sends me an amused look but doesn’t tease me any further. We eat our delicious meal and share a light conversation with each other about the book he was just reading. It was a pleasant and fuzzy feeling morning in my mind. Everything seemed nearly perfect, to the way the morning light came in, to the wrinkled bed sheets, to the freshly made breakfast, to Jeonghan sitting across from me with love bites littering his skin and a silken robe slipping down his shoulder.

He bats his lashes at me as he drinks his tea, “Would you like to take a morning bath with me after this?”

“Excuse me?” I ask dumbly. I wasn’t sure if I had heard right…if he was really inviting me to do such a thing with him.

“Let’s go take a nice bubble bath together. I want this to be a relaxing day for the both of us. From what I heard, you start training tomorrow and it’s best you have fun while you still can. This will most likely be your last lazy day for a long while.”

I bite my lip as I contemplate how I should respond. A bubble bath sounds nice, and it sounds even better with Jeonghan thrown into it, but we would be…naked. I feel my skin flush at the thought but after what I had heard last night coming through the walls, could anyone blame me? Of course the thoughts running through my head weren’t the purest of nature. Just last night I laid in this same spot imagining his bare body as his husband pounded into him.

Despite the fact that I knew it would be better for me to refuse such an offer, I shrugged my shoulder and glanced away so I didn’t have to meet his eyes, “I mean…if you would like me to accompany you then sure.”

Jeonghan’s dark eyes twinkle and he quickly gets rid of the tray of food and hops of the bed, “Splendid! Let me grab you a robe real quick.”

He heads over to my closet and I slowly slid my body to the edge of the bed. He comes back with a long, baby pink robe with cheery blossoms and beautiful white herons covering it. I stood up, still embarrassed by my almost bare body, and let Jeonghan slide the garment over my arms and shoulders. He tied it loosely and took my hand in his. He interlaced our fingers and pulled me out into the hallway.

I let Jeonghan lead the way, knowing he knew the place much better than I. When we come across the blue doors with lilies painted on them, I expect us to go through them to where the bath is. But Jeonghan instead pulls me further down the hall to a much, much larger door. This one was wooden and very much plain. But the stone around it had been carved into and had sculptures of angels looking down at us.

“Wait, I thought we were taking a bath?”

“We are.” Jeonghan answers simply.

I look back over my shoulder, “But I took my bath in that room last time.” I point towards the blue doors and Jeonghan makes a sound of understanding.

“That washroom is meant to be used by you and I, but I always bathe in the King’s bath instead.”

He opens the giant door to reveal a room with polished wooden floors and gray, stone walls. The whole far wall was completely made of glass; showing the balcony that extended from it that was covered in hanging fauna. The vines were covered in blooming flowers of white, red, pink, yellow, and even blue. The tub laid in the middle of the room and was made out of smooth stone instead of marble like the other one.

I could see why Jeonghan preferred this bath to the other. This room seemed cozier and more colorful. The other bath was still breathtakingly beautiful, but it didn’t seem as earthy and natural as this one.

I expected servants to be waiting here for us or to come barging in through the door asking if we needed anything; but surprisingly we were completely left alone. Maybe I was tainted from my last experience and just automatically assumed that taking a bath meant dealing with servants, or maybe Jeonghan had simply told them to leave us alone for the day.

He pulls me towards the edge of the steaming tub before letting go of my hand. Placed on the edge was a familiar looking basket filled with different colored bottles and vials. Jeonghan pulls out three things and pours them into the bath. One was clearly the soap used for bubbles; the others were incense that gave off a nice cinnamon and woody scent.

Jeonghan offers up a pretty smile before pulling on the belt of his robe and letting it drop completely to the floor. Of course, my eyes naturally look down the length of his body and pay very special attention to his plump ass and groin area. But I use my willpower to jerk them away and stare at the far wall instead, not wanting to come off as rude or perverted by ogling the Empress’ perfect body. Of course, I don’t think Jeonghan would have minded it at all.

He climbs swiftly into the bath before turning to me expectantly. I glance around shyly and tug gently on my robe, expecting him to turn around or avert his eyes so I can have some privacy. But he does no such thing and instead stares boldly at me. I flush and fiddle with the silken belt of my robe.

“Um…do you mind if…” my voice trails off and Jeonghan offers an amused smile.

“I’m going to see it all eventually, so why don’t you just show it off for me now?”

I avert my gaze, “There’s not much to show off.”

Jeonghan hums and leans forward over the edge of the tub, “Can I take it off for you?”

I bite my lip and turn to see his hooded gaze, “Do you want to?” He hums lowly and nods his head, “Why?”

He tilts his head in ponderment before answering, “You know how people like getting presents? Most of the time, it’s because they want to know what inside. But _I_ find that the best part is getting to unwrap it.”

He reaches out and tugs my robe open for me and pushes it off my shoulders so it glides down to the floor. He plays with the edge of my underwear before tugging that down as well and I feel my throat tighten as my cock lays exposed to him. It only makes things worse when Jeonghan doesn’t even apologetically look away from it but instead gazes at it hungrily as he licks his lips.

I try to calm my racing heart by taking a deep breath. I inhale Jeonghan’s distinct scent along with the King’s that lingered on his skin. I could smell something even heavier and thicker than usual coming off of Jeonghan; and I realized it must be the King’s seed sitting deep inside of him. A scent such as that doesn’t go away easily, especially since it belonged to an alpha.

Jeonghan gently clutches me at the elbows and tugs me forward, urging me to enter the bath with him. I step into the hot water and sit down on the ledge carved into the side of the tub. The bath was huge and much deeper than the other one. I could see why they carved a sitting area alongside the inner perimeter since sitting on it still caused the water to reach up towards my shoulders.

Jeonghan dips his head under the water and lets it soak his dark hair. I follow his actions and it feels good to have my entire body surrounded in warmth. I glance over to look at Jeonghan’s glistening body as he played around in the foamy bubbles for a bit. I took notice of the newly discovered tattoo covering his back, and for some reason the thought of the King possibly tracing that tattoo with his tongue as he fucked Jeonghan from behind popped into my head. A wave of lust hits me as well as a shock of horror because why in the hell was that the first thing to cross my mind? Why was I having such dirty thoughts popping into my head suddenly?

Jeonghan, probably having smelled my sudden spike of horniness despite the strong scent of incense surrounding us, offers me a curious look over his shoulder. He glides back through the water and sits down next to me; close enough that his side is pressed against mine. The feeling of our naked skin touching causes bolts of electricity to shoot through my nerves. I wet my lips as I take in Jeonghan’s suggestive and knowing smile.

He tilts his head so it’s laying on my shoulder and the action causes him to bare his neck fully to me. I look at the beautiful and gentle skin of his throat, knowing his pulse laid just underneath the thin exterior. The expanse of skin was covered in love bites, some faded and almost about to disappear, while others were very fresh and most likely put on him the night before. My tongue flicked itself around in my mouth, wanting desperately to place itself against Jeonghan’s skin and leave its own mark behind. Would the Empress let me do it? Even if he did, would I be willing to risk the possible King’s fury at seeing his mate marked by another?

“Do you like bubble baths, Joshua?” Jeonghan asks me sweetly and shows me a pretty smile. “Have you ever had one before?” He lifts one of his long, perfect legs out of the water so I can see the soap suds run down the length of it.

A burning heat starts to grow in me and I quickly try to tamper it. I knew he would be able to smell my arousal so I tried my best to take deep breaths and keep my mind away from any sinful thoughts.

“Um…I had one once before; back when I was a child. One of the nuns offered it to me as a birthday gift, but I didn’t savor it and instead poured the whole bottle in the first time around.”

Jeonghan chuckles and places his leg back in the water, “Well you can take as many bubble baths as you like now. If you want, you can take them with me since I love them.”

I could easily tell that by the way he blowed at the bubbles covering the surface of the water and was constantly picking them up in his hands before letting them slowly drop back down into the water. His behavior was cute…but the way the soap suds clung to his bare skin was painfully sexy.

I desperately wanted to touch that fair skin of his, and it didn’t help that I could already feel some of it pressed against my one side. I tried to resist and just think of something else. Direct the conversation to a safe place. But my mind was turning into a jumbled mess so instead I spouted out the first thing that came to my mind.

“Does the King like bubble baths?” After the words leave my mouth I mentally punch myself, wondering why I would move to a topic like that. Now I’m mentally imagining how he would look in here with us, naked as well with soap suds sliding down his body.

Jeonghan thinks about it for a minute before answering me with smoldering eyes, “He likes taking them with me.”

I make a sound in the back of my throat, “Well of course he does.” I know I’m already enjoying myself in this bubble bath with you and we haven’t even done anything. I’m sure the King has a ball when you guys are in here instead.

Jeonghan takes his head off my shoulder and angles his body so he is facing me, “Are you curious about the King?”

I think about it for a second before shrugging my shoulders, “I guess I am a little bit. Initially, he really intimidated me and it was hard being around him. And now…well I guess it’s still a little hard but he seems much nicer than I had expected. He’s so kind to you and his kids…”

The Empress hums and smirks, “Seungcheol is quite an easy man to understand. He’s either a puppy or a beast.”

I raise an eyebrow, “What do you mean by that?”

“Most of the time he’s a puppy. He just wants to run around outside and smell the flowers or go hiking with one of the kids. He wants to roll around in the grass and play games. He’s also very good at taking orders; he does everything I tell him to do just because he knows it makes me happy.” Jeonghan shrugs lightly, “He’s honestly just a puppy most of the time…but he’s like a puppy the size of a Great Dane so people get a bit intimidated at first.”

I snort and can’t contain my laughter, “I don’t think anyone would usually compare the King to something as small and defenseless as a newborn pup.”

Jeonghan once again shrugs his shoulders, “It’s true, that’s what he is. I have to take him on walks constantly or else he gets all grumpy at me. That’s why we try to trick him all the time by placing plants in all his rooms and making his furniture out of stone or wood so his mind will think he’s outside or at least close to some form of nature.”

I shake my head at the absurdity of it. But in a sense I could see what Jeonghan was talking about. The King didn’t seem all that aggressive when we first met and had only ever been welcoming towards me. Maybe he really was just a giant puppy that looked ferocious at first glance but really just wants you to play fetch with it.

I scratch my nose and wonder if anybody else would agree with the comparison Jeonghan provided for the King.

“What about when he’s a beast?”

Jeonghan smiles lightly, “He’s only a beast when the alpha in him comes out. And most of the time when it does, you know either two things are gonna happen. One, he’s going to kill you. Two, he’s going to fuck you.”

I lick my lips, “I suppose that last one has only ever applied to you?”

Jeonghan smirks, “Well, it does explain why my body is covered in so much ink now doesn’t it?” He had a point; the tattoos that covered his skin were perfect evidence to support his claim.

I sigh, “So if I he ever turns into a beast in front of me, should I run?”

Jeonghan chuckles, “Well, if you know you are the reason for him being upset then yes, I suppose running would be the best option for you.”

I let out a small laugh as well but inwardly make a mental note to never purposefully piss off the King. “Do you ever get scared, when the alpha in him comes out?”

He shakes his head, “No, I know he would never hurt me. I guess the only time I have to worry is when he is in heat.”

I grimace and before I can stop myself I rudely ask, “Is it because of the knot?” After I speak the words I quickly realize just what I had said and try to apologize, “I’m sorry! You don’t need to answer that, it came out before I could stop it. I’m really sorry I asked such a thing.”

Jeonghan offers me an amused smirk, “Why are you sorry? It’s not a big deal, I get asked it quite frequently actually. Everyone is curious to know what it’s like to lay with an alpha.”

I flush, “Yes but…I should practice better manners.”

Jeonghan laughs, “You worry too much and apologize for things you shouldn’t be sorry for. You’re quite endearing, you know that?”

The blush on my face turns redder and I rub my neck in shyness.

Jeonghan presses himself closer to me and my eyes follow as his pink tongue wets his bottom lip. “Everyone makes it seem like being knotted is so scary, don’t they? I bet you’ve heard over and over again about how painful it is.”

I avert my gaze but nod. It was true, I had only ever heard negative stuff about the process of being knotted. That it hurt and was scary and you had to worry about being seriously injured.

“None of it is true. Or at least, it isn’t in my case. I love when Seungcheol knots me.”

“Really?”

Desire floods his eyes as he nods at me, “I’ll admit, it hurts the first minute or two, but after that it feels so good to be full and having him pumping his cum into me, to the point where is overflows.”

I feel my throat close with arousal as I picture the dirty scene in my head. I clear it roughly before saying a simple, “Oh…”

Jeonghan laughs at my abashed expression, “The knot isn’t the worrisome part when he goes into heat; more like his increased vigor to do it all the time for _days_ on end so afterwards I can’t even walk or feel my hips.”

I swallow as once again my mind returns to the gutter and is filled with dirty thoughts, “Oh, I guess he’s got good stamina then.” I cringe at my own words and resist the urge to slap my own face.

Jeonghan chuckles lowly and shakes his head at me, “You’re so cute.”

I smile at his compliment but wonder if he would still say that if he knew what was running through my mind right now. If he knew I was listening to him getting fucked by his husband last night would he still find me adorable? I know I wouldn’t…

He places a warm hand on my shoulder and lifts himself up slightly, “I hope you don’t mind. I just need to grab the soap real quick.” He leans his body over me as he reaches past my shoulder for the soap lying on the edge of the tub.

My face ended up in close proximity to his chest, where I could see his pink nipples harden as the cold air hits them. Even along this expanse of skin there were markings left behind from the King. He must really be a biter or just overly possessive. Maybe he’s a bit of both, who knows…

I swallow thickly and try to push back my lust but I could feel it start to stir in between my thighs. Like molten lava its heat slowly pooled and spread itself out and there was no escaping its damage. My heart started to race as I looked up at Jeonghan poised just above me. Water droplets slithered down his jaw and neck. I watched as one made its way down his throat along the length of his chest and stomach before finally sliding down his pelvis and disappearing into the water. I knew his cock laid just underneath the surface but I couldn’t see it because the foamy bubbles covered it.

Jeonghan grabs what he was aiming for and starts to pull back and return to his spot before. A natural instinct within me though, drove me to place my hands on his hips and keep him still as I leaned up and gently kissed him. When I pulled back he had a surprised look on his face and then it hit me what I had just done. Before I can apologize, Jeonghan leans back down and presses his lips against mine once more.

His lips were soft and gentle and their touch caused my heart to pound against my ribcage. They moved against my own and I tried my best to move with them, although it took me a while since I was still very much awkward at the whole thing. He slides his tongue along the seam of my lips and I let him in hesitantly.  He swipes the tip of his tongue along the roof of my mouth before stroking it against my own. I let out a pleasured sound and Jeonghan hums in return.

I feel him move one of his legs over so he was now straddling my lap. He places his hands on the back of my neck and stokes my jaw with one of thumbs. The gentle way he massaged my skin almost felt as if it was a small sign of encouragement.

I’m not sure how long we kissed for, to be honest I wouldn’t mind if we just spent all day doing this. I never knew kissing was such a pleasant and intimate act before until now. Every nerve in my body was on fire and yet I still wanted more. I want to hear those moans from the night before. I want to see his body in the throes of passion, and I want to be the reason for it this time. But…I don’t know how to make him do any of that. I barely know just what it is I’m doing now.

Jeonghan pulls away and a thin line of spit connects our lips. He raises an eyebrow at me, “you surprised me. I never would have thought you would make the first move like that.”

I offer up a small smile, “I didn’t really plan it; it just sort of happened.”

Jeonghan hums, intrigued, “You seem different today. You seem… _interested_ in things you weren’t so inclined to do yesterday.”

I shake my head, “That’s not true. I wanted to kiss you yesterday too.”

Jeonghan chuckles, “I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about how yesterday, you seemed so docile and submissive to me. But today…you’ve been sending out _hints_ that you might try to pounce on me. Well…I guess technically you just did.” I knew the ‘hints’ he was referring to was my clear scent of arousal.

I flush and look away, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten in to me today. I just can’t seem to control myself.”

He slides his hands from the back of my neck down to my shoulders, “Well if you would like, we can keep going. We can take this as a chance to explore each other.”

“Explore?” I inquiry.

He hums in confirmation before one of those hands on my shoulders moves to below the water and places itself high up on my thigh. I give a small jerk at the sudden feel of it and bite my lip in response. He begins to rub soothing circles on my inner thigh with his thumb and I feel my cock stiffen under the water.

“We can go slow,” he offers. “It doesn’t have to be much if you don’t want it to. Just simple touches so we can slowly ease into each other.”

That hand slides itself even further up my thigh and I gulp. “Uh…sure we can but…I don’t really know what to do.”

Jeonghan sends me a gentle smile and pecks me on the cheek, “It’s okay. Let me guide you.”

He starts by placing butterfly kisses along my jaw line and then making his way to my neck. My breathe hitches when he gets there, knowing it was my most vulnerable spot, but it surprisingly felt good to have him suckle on the skin and nip at it gently. My eyes rolled behind closed eyelids and I let out a small moan. The hand on my shoulder slides down and starts to play with one of my nipples. I let out an embarrassing high pitched noise as he teases the nub, not used to the strange feeling it causes in my stomach.

Jeonghan lets out a breathy laugh, “You’re so sensitive. I like that.”

He trails his mouth down to my other nipple and takes it in between his soft lips. “Ah!” The noise escapes me before I can stop it as Jeonghan rolls his hot tongue against the sensitive nub. My hips reflexively thrust upward and Jeonghan takes that as a sign I want more. He grips the base of my cock lightly in his fist and strokes it slowly. My head falls back and I let out a deep and raw moan.

I was the first time my cock has ever been touched when aroused and it sent fire racing up my spine. Of course, I’ve heard over and over again how good it feels to masturbate or have sex but I didn’t really know it would be _this_ _good_. My back arched as the pleasure worked its way through my cock and sunk to somewhere deeper inside of me.

I place a hand on Jeonghan’s chest and gently push him back. He stops his ministrations and gives me a curious look. “Sorry…I’m just not used to this.”

Jeonghan strokes my face gently, “Do you want to stop?”

“No!” We both jump slightly at the urgency in my voice and Jeonghan cracks a smile. I flush and shake my head, “I don’t want to stop. But I feel like my body is about to explode right now and it kind of scares me.”

Jeonghan laughs in amusement, “You’re just not use to the feeling yet. It’s suppose to feel extremely good, you just have to let your body relax and enjoy the sensations.”

I huff and pout, “It’s really hard to relax though when you are doing these things to me.”

Jeonghan smirks and kisses me gently, “You’re right; maybe I’m getting ahead of myself and over-stimulating you. Let’s try something a little different then.”

He stands up in the tub and I come face to face with his hard cock, standing proudly before me. I make a weird sound in my throat; a mixture of surprise and want. I felt my mouth salivate as I smelled his sweet precum leak down his length and I felt a strange curiosity to taste it.

He grabs my upper arms and pulls me to stand up as well, before pushing me back to sit on the edge of the tub; which was actually a foot wide. My cock twitched as the cool air breezed against it. Jeonghan sits his beautiful, wet body down next to mine and angles us so we are on the side of our hips facing each other.

He gives me a sultry look, “How about we do this? I’ll touch your body first and you tell me how it makes you feel. Then, you can return the favor and do the same for me. Since I already know what I like, I’ll teach you how to properly please me.” I blush as I picture myself pleasing Jeonghan’s body just as he had done previously to me. “This way, we can go as slow as you like and do only the things you feel comfortable with, okay? Does that sound alright, Joshua?”

I lick my lips as I hear him say my name and I nod without a second of hesitation, “Yes I-I think that will be okay.”

He smirks and kisses my lips, “Okay, then first things first, do you like when I kiss you?”

He leans in and pries open my mouth with his own. His warm tongue explores my mouth and I gasp and moan. The kiss was passionate but not overly aggressive and it left my head spinning by the end of it.

Jeonghan searches my face with his piercing eyes and I answer him honestly, “Yes, I like that.”

He leans forward and starts to kiss down my jaw to my neck, placing gentle butterfly kisses before suddenly sucking harshly on my sensitive neck. I let out a loud moan and I feel his lips smile against my skin, “How about this? Is this good?”

I nod my head, “Yes…yes I really like when you do that.”

He continues to suck harshly on the skin and nibble at it with his teeth, “Oh, I know. I can feel your pulse racing and smell your arousal leaking out of you.”

My breath hitches in my throat at Jeonghan’s dirty words and I feel my cock become even harder (which I didn’t even think was possible) and start to pulse hotly. It was almost painful how suddenly my cock ached for some sort of intense friction; for something warm to wrap itself tightly around it.

Jeonghan tilts his head and raises his eyebrows, “Oh? Does dirty talk excite you Joshua? Would you like me to say more?”

I shake my head feeling full of embarrassment, “No, it doesn’t.”

Jeonghan’s gives me an amused look, “Your voice says one thing but your body says something else…”

I turn my gaze away from his and pout, “No, you’re mistaken…”

Jeonghan chuckles and strokes my warm cheek, “Am I? I don’t believe I am, but I won’t tease you about it for now.”

He ducks his head and sucks gently on one of my nipples. My body jerks, “Ah! Wait…”

Jeonghan hums and looks up at me through his lashes, “Theses are quite sensitive now aren’t they? You make such pretty noise when I play with them…” He takes it once more in his mouth and I whimper and throw my head back. I place a hand on his shoulder and gently push. Jeonghan immediately stops his ministrations with his tongue, “Do you not like it?”

With my thoughts spinning in my head, it took me a second to think through my words, “It’s not that it’s bad but…it makes me feel this strange feeling in my stomach...”

Jeonghan places a hand over my naval and strokes gently, “Does it feel like butterflies are trapped inside?”

I think about the feeling and nod, “Yes, it does.”

Jeonghan hums in understanding, “I know the feeling. I guess the first time experiencing it can be a bit strange and concerning…but I think you will grow to like it sometime in the future.”

He leaves one more kiss on the nub before trailing his lips down my body. I felt the swirling pit of desire in my gut intensify in excitement as Jeonghan’s head drew ever closer to my leaking cock. He licks his lips as he takes in the sight of it, covered completely from tip to base in precum.

Before I can stop myself I mumble out, “It hurts.”

Jeonghan’s gives me a surprised look, “It hurts?”

I swallow thickly, “It keeps throbbing and it aches.”

Jeonghan lowers his eyes to my arousal and moans, low and breathless, “That’s because it’s never felt the true pleasure of release. You’ve been neglecting it all these years and now it’s begging for your attention.”

I shake my head, “It’s only like this cause you’re here, not me.”

Jeonghan turns his dark, passionate eyes on mine, “Are you saying it’s my fault then?” He lets out an amused smirk.

I pout, “Well it _is_ your fault. You made it like this…”

“Ahhhh…” Jeonghan offers me a teasing smile, “So its pleas are for me then? I guess it has turn against you, and now looks to me for the love and attention it deserves.”

He lowers his head and flicks his slick tongue against the sensitive head. My hips thrust up in search for more and Jeonghan chuckles. He slides his arm across my hips to keep them firmly down.

“I don’t need to ask if you like this, Joshua. Every man enjoys a mouth wrapped tightly around his cock.”

My cock jerks and Jeonghan slides his tongue from base to tip. My eyes roll and a whorish moan leaves my lips. This only spurs him on and he quickly slides my length into his soft mouth. My eyes widen and my breath escapes me as my arousal is suddenly surrounded by gentle, tight walls, slick with saliva and stroking me slowly.

I feel my balls draw tight and my natural instincts to hold Jeonghan’s head still as I fuck his mouth until my completion, races through my head. Such an obscene desire makes me feel guilty and I look away from the sight of his pink lips stretched around me.

Jeonghan stills and pulls off of me with a slick sound. He reaches up and grips my jaw gently, and turns my head back to face him.

“You should watch as I taint you. The loss of innocence only happens but once in a life.”

I feel my heart ram itself in my chest, trying to escape the prison it was held in so it could throw itself to the man in front of me. All the feelings within my body were both thrilling yet terrifying. I struggled to hold his gaze; scared that he would be able to see the sinful thoughts I had of him within my mind.

“I can’t…this is all too much.”

Jeonghan shakes his head, “Then stop fighting it. I can see you want what I’m giving you. So just give in to me, obey me as you promised before. Don’t be scared of the pleasure I can make you feel.”

He takes my length into his mouth once more and I watch as the outline of my cock presses against the inside of his cheek. Doing as he commanded, I watch as he shows my cock the pleasure of his experienced mouth. My thoughts grew hazy and passionate as my precum mixed with his saliva and he greedily swallowed it. He bobbed his head rhythmically, keeping a steady pace as he looked up as me through his dark lashes. At an alarming rate, I grew ever closer to reaching an orgasm. My body quivered and filthy sounds left my lips. I moaned Jeonghan’s name and gripped one of his hands tightly as he offered it to me.

That hand was like a lifeline to me; the only stable thing I could cling to in that moment. Eventually, the warm velvety touch of his mouth was too much to bear. I couldn’t even keep my eyes open anymore as a burning pleasure scorched its way through me and my mind could only solidify and focus on the mouth sucking me off.

I whimpered and moaned in need, but through it all I could still feel my body resist. The intensity of everything still frightened me somewhat; it all felt almost too good to be true. Jeonghan started to stroke me faster and my body crumpled beneath him. I tossed my head back, not even having the strength to hold it up anymore.

Pleas spilled forth from my mouth beyond my control. Words like ‘please’ and ‘more’ echoed throughout the room as I begged Jeonghan to simply do as he wanted with me. Before I had only ever prayed to gods above that I had never seen or heard but believed were there. But now I felt like I was praying to something I could touch; something that was most definitely real. I would never think an act such as this would be a way to communicate to a God; but I felt that this feeling was what I was searching for throughout all these years. I could feel Jeonghan touch something within me, something I didn’t even know was there and rip it out of me.

I practically scream as my cum fills Jeonghan’s mouth. I feel every nerve within my body come alive and my eyes become blinded by the intensity of my release. My spine bends and my heart races as sparks of pleasure pulse through my body as strings of cum pour ever flowing onto the Empress’ awaiting tongue.

As the last bead of cum appears on my tip, the intensity numbs itself into a white haze. My whole body becomes light except for one twisting, heavy essence that settles itself into my core. It was something new, a presence that was placed there by Jeonghan himself and was most likely there to stay.

Jeonghan swipes a drop of cum off the side of his lips and leans over me, “Taste it. The first time is always the sweetest.” In a daze, I open my mouth and let Jeonghan place my own release upon my tongue. He watches my expression as I taste my loss of innocence. He was right; it was sickly sweet and tasted ripe and fresh. It reawakens my body and my mind comes back to life in an instant. Realizing what exactly I had just done flits through my mind but surprisingly, I felt no regret towards any of it. Instead…I wanted more. This was nowhere near enough to satisfy me. I had just experienced bliss, paradise, nirvana and I wasn’t yet ready to leave it so easily.

I lean up and fiercely capture Jeonghan’s lips. I slide my tongue against his own and push my body up so I have enough leverage to flip us over. I let my body slide back into the tub and pull Jeonghan very close to the edge.

I nip at his bottom lip before pulling away, eyeing his whole body with my lustful gaze, “It’s my turn now, yes?”

Jeonghan chuckles deeply, “It is your turn now, although…I previously thought I would guide you through what to do. But since you seem so eager now, I’ll let you do as you please.”

Do as I please? Does he mean I can do whatever I want to do? Well, what I want to do the most is make the Empress moan just like he did the night before for the King. But I had no idea where to start in order to achieve something like that. I search is naked and exposed body and decide to simply follow the same procedure he did previously to me.

I slide down so I’m leveled with his chest and look at him cautiously as I place my lips around his small nipple and suck. He lets out a small and very quiet moan; sounding almost like he was sighing. I suck harder and he pushes his chest out for me, clearly enjoying it. But still…He wasn’t writhing beneath me or moaning my name, like I had pictured him last night.

I try to remember just how he did it to me and I bring one of my hands up to lightly pinch the nipple between my thumb and forefinger. Jeonghan jerks and actually lets out a very satisfied moan. He lazily lets is head fall back and hums just like a cat would purr. I smirk, realizing I could get something out of him, if I just do as he did to me. I continue to tease his one nipple with my hand and the other I take in my mouth, rolling it in between my teeth and tongue, adding enough pressure for him to feel it but not for it to hurt.

With my other hand, I slide it down and lightly grip his cock. I stroke it awkwardly for a minute before Jeonghan covers my hand with his own. He adds some pressure so I grip his cock more firmly and makes me stroke him at a steady and fast rate. His precum slickened the whole process and it felt weird to have my hand covered in its stickiness. His moans grew slightly louder and his breath quickened, but still I knew the Empress could moan louder if I only knew how to make him do so. There was no doubt he was enjoying this; the way his flushed face looked when I touched him was enough evidence to show he was most certainly feeling pleasure. But still he wasn’t completely taken over by the throes of passion like I wanted him to be.

His tongue flicks out to lick his bottom lip and the action gives me an idea. I lick my own lips and look down at the Empress’ thick cock. I pull back and slide farther down into the water until my breath blows against his length. Curious, I lean forward and lick the tip of his cock. His pre-cum didn’t taste like my own; instead it was salty and I enjoyed the taste of it. Jeonghan raises his head so he can look down at me. Sin and lust swirled in his dark orbs and he places one hand on the back of my head, urging me forward. I let my tongue swirl around the head of his cock and finally, Jeonghan lets out a long deep moan. However, it wasn’t like his other moans. This one came from deeper within him…this one was raw and needy and sounded like absolute desire.

I open my mouth take in the head of his cock, making sure my teeth don’t accidently brush him. I suck greedily, trying to take in as much of his cock as I could. I couldn’t get very far though before the tip of it hits the back of my throat. I let out a small cough and try again, but I’m met with the same result as before.

Jeonghan strokes my head gently and I look up at him with big eyes. He smiles fondly through his lustful expression, “You don’t have to try to take it all in like I did. That’s something you learn with experience and time; not something you do on your first attempt.”

I blush and pull off him with a pop, “I still want to take more of you in though…”

Jeonghan bites his lip and moans quietly, “Stick your tongue out before you put it in your mouth. You will be able to take more in then.”

I do as he says and I’m able to take in about another half inch of his cock before it brushes the back of my throat. Jeonghan holds the back of my head and gently guides my movements; setting the pace of how I suck him off. I continue to stroke the rest of his cock that I couldn’t fit in my mouth, and Jeonghan lets out whimpers along with his moans now.

I was definitely sloppier at this than Jeonghan was, but the Empress didn’t seem to mind in the least bit.  His precum started to flow more heavily and spilled out of the corners of my mouth and dribbled down my chin. I couldn’t help but moan around Jeonghan’s cock as it throbbed in my mouth. It hurt to have my jaw and mouth stretched so wide, but I still wanted more. Jeonghan lightly thrusts upwards and I welcome the action. I try to invitingly open my mouth wider and let him pound the back of my throat. He does it gently but it still causes me to choke around his cock; he moans every time I do it though. Maybe it feels good when I do that; or maybe he just likes the sound of it.

Usually I would connect choking to being an unpleasant feeling; but having Jeonghan fuck my mouth was anything but unpleasant. Embarrassingly enough I wanted him to choke me more; something I had never desired before in my entire life. But my thoughts had all but become foreign to me, and the things they whispered and desired were everything I previously would turn away from.

Eventually, Jeonghan’s cock chokes me one too many times and I have to pull off and gasp for air. I swallow roughly and breathe in, planning to dive right back in and suck his cock once more. But I’m stopped by a scent, one that I had smelled earlier on Jeonghan. I knew where it was coming from too.

I look in between the Empress’ legs and spot his quivering entrance. It was wet, which was no surprise since he was obviously turned on. Mine did the same thing and of course his smelled sweet and enticing. But the scent was mixed with something heavier and thicker with the distinct feel of an alpha. It clicked in my mind that Jeonghan and the King fucked last night; and obviously the Empress did not take a bath until now. Which means the King’s seed was still deep within him, and it was clearly mixing with Jeonghan’s slick wetness.

My mind loses its self control and I maneuver Jeonghan in a flash so he is now bent over the side of the tub with his ass in the air. The Empress makes a sound of surprise and looks over his shoulder, wondering what I was doing. Before he can stop me I lean forward and lick his wet entrance with my rough tongue.

“Ah!” The Empress makes a beautiful sound, one I heard him make frequently the night before. He whimpers and his legs quiver beneath him. Finally…I had him melting beneath me. His body was opening itself up to me now.

And better yet, I could taste the King’s thick cum mixed in with Jeonghan’s salty wetness. My mind filled with thoughts of the King’s and Empress’ lovemaking. I could picture the King fucking this hole with his large cock, stretching it open before pouring his seed deep inside. He probably looked so sexy when he did it, so manly and dominant just like the alpha he is.

I sucked and licked his twitching entrance in desperation; wanting more of what laid inside to fall upon my tongue. The King’s cum was creamy and coated my throat as I swallowed it.

Jeonghan arches his back and lets out such pure and raw sounds; which echoed off the walls and ringed in my ears. He reaches back and tries to push my head away, “Don’t…the King he-“

“I know.” I cut him off and push his hand away before continuing to rim his hole. I push my tongue in pass the tight muscles and Jeonghan’s back arches before his muscles collapse entirely and his body gives out against the edge of the tub.

Jeonghan’s ass stays raised as I hold it up and spread his cheeks open. I push my tongue in deeper and Jeonghan’s voice raises a couple octaves so his moans are no longer deep and throaty but instead high-pitched and needy just like a whore’s. It felt good to hear my new found God sounding so pleased beneath me.

His hips twitch and he starts to beg for me, “Ah! Ah! Joshua…oh please…Joshua! More! I need more..oh god I need more. Please! Please…” He starts to rock his hips and he fucks himself on my tongue. I fuck him back with it and the Empress whimpers in delight.

Something claws itself up from my core into my throat and a deep growl rips free from me. It reverberated in my chest and I could feel Jeonghan’s hole tighten and twitch invitingly on my tongue. I had never growled before in my life, except for once when I had felt threatened. And even then, it didn’t sound nearly as fearsome or powerful as this one thundering deep within me now. The sound clearly excited Jeonghan as his juices began to overflow and poured down his soft thighs. I licked and sucked it up eagerly, not wanting to miss a single drop of it.

I reach up under Jeonghan and grip his leaking cock. Jeonghan cries out as I jerk him off quick and rough. I could tell he was close; his body did just as I imagined it would do. His back arched and his hips writhed beneath me. Incoherent words and sounds left his lips as he drew closer and closer to his release. Finally, his body hit the peak of pleasure and his cum spilled out and fell into the warm bath water. Jeonghan lets out a loud cry as his hardened cock throbs in my hand and covers it with its white seed. His entrance rhythmically clenches down on my tongue as he rides his orgasm.

Along with Jeonghan’s sweet release, the last of the King’s cum spills into my mouth and I smile triumphantly. I pull back and look down at the Empress’ tight, pink hole. It was so wet and looked like it wanted to be fucked so bad. But the Empress was obviously exhausted and I had not been given permission to go that far. Well…I technically wasn’t given permission to go as far as I already did…but then again, he did say ‘do as you please’.

I marvel at Jeonghan’s perfect entrance and finally, I understood now. This was how the King made Jeonghan lose his mind as he fucked him. This perfect gem is what made the Empress weak beneath another man. I place a gentle kiss on it and promise to not abuse it. I know now that it must be the most sensitive part of Jeonghan, and therefore I should treasure it.

Finally, I take a deep breath and maneuver Jeonghan back into the water. His body was nice and pliant now as his warm afterglow hit him. He moaned in appreciation as the warm water once more covered his body.

He looks at me with hazy eyes and I lick my lips, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

“I do.” Jeonghan says it quietly, breathless. He leans forward and kisses me softly, “I know exactly what came over you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg I'm so sorry.....I don't know why I wrote this. Why did I taint our precious Joshua like this??? Why did I make this so dirty?? I wish I could tell you....lol
> 
> Anyway, sorry it took me a while to get this chapter up. School has gotten hectic since exams are starting next week.
> 
> Once again, thank you to everyone who has commented, bookmarked, or left kudos on this story!! I greatly appreciate it!!!
> 
> Please feel free to comment or leave a question and I will respond back as soon as I can!!!


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of the day was quite uneventful; which is surprising considering all that happened in the morning. Jeonghan and I spent a lazy day together. He toured me around the huge castle; showing me the giant library, the vast gardens, the theatre, the throne room, the dining room, etc. I can’t even remember half of what he showed me; all I knew was that each room seemed grander than the rest.

After our tour, we spent the day lazing around reading books, having fun discussions and debates, and singing gentle tunes together. We ate until our bellies were full, and laughed until our faces and stomachs hurt. Once the day grew dark, we retired to our respective beds and I felt whole and happy going to sleep that night. And in the morning, I was truly thankful that Jeonghan had given his whole day to making sure I had fun and relaxed. Because just like he predicted, I would not be receiving any more days like that for a while.

I was woken up very early in the morning, just as the sun was about to rise over the horizon. The maids came in and helped me dress while I was still half asleep. They put a black, short kimono on me that had a simple but jagged red design covering it. It stopped at my mid thigh and had slits on the sides that showed even more of my skin. Usually, I would never wear such a tight and seductive piece of clothing, but at the time they were putting it on me I didn’t really question or noticed the outfit. They then quickly sat me down and fixed my hair and put a light amount of makeup on me.

I was led to a simple room where two men stood before me; one was wearing a light blue three piece suit, and had short brown hair and large brown eyes. He looked very androgynous, and if not for the fact he had no breasts, I would have struggled to identify his gender. The other man was taller, around the same height as me, and had snow white hair and light brown eyes. He was dressed in a matching suit but his was black instead of blue. Their names were Hanjun and Kangmin, but I was told to address them as either ‘sir’ or ‘teacher’.

Hanjun, the smaller and more pretty one, was in charge of teaching me the more gentle and delicate things. He showed me how to walk, bow, hold myself, pour tea, do my hair, do my makeup, put on my clothes. Basically anything and everything that involved me presenting myself in an aristocratic way. His job was to make me look on the outside like the perfect Highness I’m meant to become.

Kangmin on the other hand, was meant to teach me about the knowledge and responsibilities someone of my position is meant to know. I was meant to memorize and learn about the other nobilities that neighbored us and what their kingdoms were like. I was taught foreign policies, treaties, trade, business of all sorts. His job was to make me smart and capable so I didn’t make the King look bad for having a dumb lover next to his side.

To say the least, it was hard and tiring learning all these things and it was only the first day. To make it worse, their punishment for when I did things incorrectly was to strike my wrists, palms, or the back of my exposed calves with a thin wooden stick. They did not strike me hard, but it still stung and left red marks behind. It even split the skin a bit on my hands; but neither of them showed me mercy. They simply replied with, “You’ll get tired of getting hit eventually. And by that point, you will make sure to learn and do things properly.”

I guess they had a point. After my first day was done, I resolved to do better the next since I can’t even imagine how much it will hurt tomorrow when they strike the wounds I gained today.

As I left my new study room, I decided all I wanted to do for the rest of the day was to sit down and read a nice book. I wander the halls, trying my best to remember the way to the library. I opened a few doors here and there, checking to see if any of them I recognized and could possibly give me a clue if I was heading in the right direction or not. Sadly, so many of the rooms I did remember seeing, but the castle was so large I could not remember if they were located anywhere near my target destination. I close another door which led me nowhere and looked down at my throbbing hands.

It hurt when I touched anything. I stare down at my pale hands, which trembled slightly, and I followed the crossing red lines that covered them. They reminded me of when I was a child. When I was taken into the church as an orphan, I was taught many things and I was expected to help with a variety of different chores. Kids who misbehaved, did poorly in their teachings, or refused to do their chores, were punished. The nuns were much harsher than my tutors are now. They would strike the kids so hard with their wooden sticks; thick bloody gashes would cover their skin for weeks. Sometimes they even slapped the children, pulled on their hair or ears, or worse. I was a good child though, and I didn’t not receive those punishments; except for once.

A kid had stolen a pair of earrings from one of the nuns, and hid them among my possessions to make it seem as if I was the thief. I repeatedly told them all I was innocent and pure; that I would never do a thing such as stealing since it was a sin. But they did not believe me and they hit me with their wooden sticks until my palms turned raw; and then they whipped my back. I cried and cried until I was finally saved by a priest; a very young priest who was always kind to the orphans and knew I was not a bad child. He believed me to be innocent; and scolded the nuns for hurting a child who committed no crime. From then on; I blindly loved and followed that young priest; because I thought he was the purest man in the world. It would not be till much later I would discover how wrong I was about that assumption.

“Joshua?”

I’m broken from my reverie by a voice and I look up into the King’s warm eyes. I jump in surprise; shocked that I had not sensed him coming even though his presence was so strong and he was not masking himself this time for me. But the scent of him did not choke me this time around; it only reminded me of the thick seed I had taken into my mouth the day prior.

I flush and stumble over my words, “I’m sorry! I was lost in my thoughts and did not see you there.”

He smiles and I feel something warm in my chest, “It’s okay. I was just surprised to see you over here in this portion of the castle. Are you lost?”

“Ah!” I nod, “Yes, I was trying to find the library but this place is so big I have no idea where I’m going or where I even am.”

He chuckles, “I’m well aware of how monstrous this place is. I’m glad I’m not one of the many servants who have to clean it.” He offers his arm out to me and I look at it hesitantly. He gives me a welcoming look and urges me to take it, “It just so happens I was planning to head to the library myself. We can go there together.”

I smile and grip his strong arm and let him guide me. The servants flanking his side part for us as he moves, and for some reason, even though we are practically the same height, I feel so small in comparison to the King. It just seems like he takes up more space in the room, and the fact that everyone keeps a wide girth away from him doesn’t help that.

But before where this large presence scared me…now I only felt comfort in his warmth. Letting him guide me down the twisting halls felt so easy. I no longer wanted to run or hide; or pull away in resistance in fear he might hurt me. He felt safe to me now. And the warm scent of vanilla that lingered on him seemed so lovely and soothing.

What has changed? I wasn’t like this before to the King... I will admit that eventually I did realize he wasn’t dangerous but I still didn’t feel what I’m feeling towards him now…

So what’s changed? When did it change? Was it the night I heard him making love to Jeonghan? Or maybe when Jeonghan talked about him to me and said he was nothing more than a puppy? Or maybe it was after that…when I tasted his cum and felt no shame in swallowing it. Well….at the time I felt no shame...but now that I was looking at his face things felt a little different…

The King frowns and I realize his gaze is directed down; towards my hands. He takes hold of one and gently rubs my red palm and wrist. He grunts softly and I quiver. His eyes darken and he looks at me with seriousness and sadness, “I hate that they do this. That they strike you simply because you make a mistake. I should talk to them about that; have them find an alternative method that will not hurt you.”

I shake my head, “It’s okay, it’s not that bad. Besides, I’ve had worse.”

His frown deepens, “That doesn’t make things better. I don’t see why anyone would hurt you; you seem so innocent.”

I bite my lip and internally can’t help but think, ‘if only you knew’. If he only knew what I had done with his husband the day prior; he would never think me so pure as he does now.

When we reach the library, the King casts his servants away and they bow before leaving silently. He opens the door to reveal the massive room, with warm mahogany floors and bookshelves, and a beautiful mural painted on the ceiling depicting angels and deities. It smells like old books and I love it.

The King’s royal blue robes swish as he walks over to a big chair with a book laying on its seat. The King picks it up and opens it to the page where there is a bookmark before sitting himself down. I turn away to scan the massive expansion of books; wondering where to even begin and what I would even want to read.

The King clears his throat and my gaze turns back towards him to see him smirking at me. He raises a brow and I’m struck breathless for a moment at how handsome he is.

“Would you like a recommendation?”

It takes a minute for my brain to process just what he means before nodding sheepishly, “Yes, I would very much appreciate that.”

He gets up and searches the shelves for a particular book; humming to himself gently. I watch him with interest; liking how his dark lashes fluttered as he searched high and low; and how he bit his lip softly and furrowed his brows. Something has really changed in me…something serious has transformed my being…because the King looks like an entirely new man to me. And I want him to look at me…like he does when he looks at the Empress. I don’t feel the same desire for him as I do with Jeonghan; that burning fire that makes me lose my mind and I end up being led by my crazy hormones. No…I don’t feel _that_ for the King. Instead I just want him to soothe me; to not reject me. I want that unconditional love he shows his husband and children. I want him to hold me.

His hand reaches out and he pulls a brown and gold book off the shelf. He blows the little bit of dust off of it and hands it to me with a smile. It was titled, ‘The Many Thoughts of My Many Lives.’

I tilt my head in curiosity, “What is it about?”

His deep voice rings with fondness as he speaks, “It’s about a man, who continues to be reborn again and again. Each time his life is completely different, one time he is a King and another he is a beggar on the streets. But even though his scenario is always different, he always falls in love the same way.”

I stroke the book gently and I can see how worn it is, “How many times have you read this?”

“Twelve.”

I raise my head in shock and feel my jaw drop. He chuckles at my expression and I sputter in astonishment, “You must really love this book; to have read it so many times. Doesn’t it ever get boring?”

He shakes his head, “No, every time I read it, it reminds me to be thankful for how fortunate I am.”

“Why is that?”

He smiles and winks, “You’ll have to read it to find out.”

He turns around and heads back towards his spot; which I’m thankful for so he can’t see my blushing face.

I brush the cover of the book gently with my hand, and make my way over to a loveseat to start reading it. In the first chapter, the man was a young sailor. He was reckless, wild, adventurous, but awfully depressed. Although he loved the sea and the vast world he gets to explore, he wants to experience love. The older sailors teased him for this, claiming that the only thing he should love was the sea.

The young man didn’t understand this. He _did_ love the sea; but he wanted to love another person as well. Better yet; he wanted to fall in love with a person who loved the sea just as much as him. So he decided that he would try and find this person; whoever they may be; and he wouldn’t give up until he found them.

Every time they struck land, the man would go and visit the town, searching desperately and coming up with nothing. Every time he spoke of his desire, people would laugh at him. ‘No woman will foolishly leave their comfortable life to go on the sea with you! Nor will they wait at home for you to come back months later!’

In a way, he knew they were right. But he was young and hopeful; wishing desperately that they were all wrong. But the years passed, and the man grew bitter and gave up on the idea of love. When they visited towns now, he had no desire to talk with anybody. He would stay on the ship, or find himself a quiet spot in town where he could sit and just dwell in his own thoughts.

That is, until one day, when he sat himself under an apple tree to watch the clouds drift on by; a beautiful girl came over to speak to him. She had golden hair and blue eyes, with freckles covering her nose. She was not the type of beautiful women you see in the bars; who are clearly more womanly and experienced. This girl was instead youthful and honest looking.

She sat down eagerly next to the sailor, and asked him who he was. The man was not really in the mood to deal with a child, although in fact she was actually only a couple years younger than him. He told her his name and then told her to go away. The girl did not seem put off by his attitude, and instead eagerly asked him to tell her a story.

“A story? Why should I tell you a story?”

“Because you’re a sailor, right? I want to know what your world is like.”

So the man told her of his adventures and even told her of his once strong desire to find love. The girl told the man she loved the sea, and would happily go with him if he wanted to take her. The man refused, believing she did not understand just what it was she was truly proposing. He told her she would never last on the sea, and she should be thankful for the life she had now.

The girl grew quiet and sad; claiming her life was not as pleasant as it may seem on the surface.

The sailor remained in that town for about a week, and each day the girl would visit him under the apple tree. Even though the man refused at first, he quickly grew fond of the girl. He even grew brave enough to kiss her, and he then could no longer deny his love for her. He gave in to her wishes, and said he would take her to sea with him. She said her father could never know, for he wouldn’t let her go then. So they planned to meet in secret the night the ship was meant to leave.

The man waited in anticipation all day until it grew dark. He made his way to the edge of the sea and walked until he was at the top of a cliff. The dark sea was thunderous as it pounded into the side of the rocky cliff. The man searched around for the girl, waiting for her to arrive. Time passed on…but still the girl did not show. The man worried that she had changed her mind; had realized their love was not worth giving everything up for. The man grew forlorn and dropped his head. It was then he noticed a white piece of paper, trapped under a rock. He pulled it out and it was a letter from his love.

She told him she was sorry; that they would not be meeting each other that night. Her abusive father has discovered her packing her stuff; and knew she planned to escape him. She tried her best to fight him; to flee from his possessive grasp, but she had failed. Her father, enraged, took a knife and marred her face. He told her no man would love someone as ugly as her, and she should never try to run away again. When she gazed upon her reflection in the mirror; she was horrified at what she had become. She could no longer face the sailor; not wanting to see his disgusted expression and face his rejection. So she left this letter to him; telling him she was sorry and loved him; before throwing herself off the cliff. She wanted her final resting place to be the sea; the thing he loved most.

The man gazed down at the rough waters below, and let himself fall into them. He thought that maybe…just maybe, if he made it to the bottom of the sea; he would find her…

I feel a soft hand stroke away a tear on my cheek and I look up into the King’s gentle gaze. I didn’t even realize I was crying until then.

I swallow roughly, “I’m sorry, it was just so sad,” I try to explain myself.

The King smiles sadly, “You don’t have to apologize, I cried too when I first read it. But I assure you, not all the chapters are as sad as the first one.”

I bite my lip, “I just wish they could have been happy together…He didn’t even hesitate to jump in after her, even though he knew she was dead.”

The King hums lowly, and sits himself closer to my side, “When I was a child, I didn’t really understand the sailor. I thought his life must have been so cool; seeing everything the world had to offer and being able to tell all those amazing adventures he experienced. And yet, he was so unhappy by the end of it; cause he didn’t really have anyone to truly share those moments with. But as a boy; I didn’t see why he would kill himself over a girl he only knew for a week.”

“And now?” I question.

The King gives a thin smile, “Once I met Jeonghan…my perspective changed. I realized, I was more like the sailor than I originally would acknowledge. As much as I thought his actions were foolish at first; I would make the same decision as him now.”

I offer up a small smile, “That’s because you love him.”

He nods, “More than anything in his world.”

 I cast my eyes down and frown, “The love you have for each other…it’s so heartbreakingly beautiful. It’s sometimes hard to watch, because deep down it’s what we all want. But I want you to know; no matter what, I never want to get in the way of that love. I know what my duty is here…and I guess, I will try my best to fulfill it; since I know it will make you two happy. But if ever…I make things difficult between you two; please don’t hesitate to cast me aside.”

The King cradles my cheek and raises my head to look deep into my eyes. He strokes my face gently with his thumb and gives me an affectionate look, “You are such a sweet little thing. You don’t need to worry about that ever happening, because of two things. One; the bond between Jeonghan and I will never waver, it will only grow stronger as the years pass on. And two; I will never cast you aside. You are family now; and that means you will always have a place here; and I would do anything for you.”

I take in a shaky breath, and try to pull my attention away from Seungcheol’s piercing gaze. I admit softly, “I’ve never had a family before. So I don’t really know how this works but…” I can’t help but look back up towards his handsome face, “I just want you to know I’m so thankful. And I want to make you happy…”

The King smiles fondly and opens his mouth to speak but someone clearing their throat interrupts us. We turn our attention to the door behind me and standing there was the King’s oldest son; Woozi.

He was wearing a pure gold dress with a tight bodice showing off his incredibly small and thin figure. It was covered in blue and silver detailing, had no sleeves, and had a long slit in the front of the skirt to show off his perfect legs. He had a gold sash wrapped around him, and a large golden headpiece on top of his head. Placed in between his eyebrows was a blue sapphire, and upon his face was a very displeased look. It was then I realized, the immaculately dressed omega, had just seen me telling his father I wanted to make him happy; while being intimately close with him and having him cradling my face. The King realized this as well and we quickly pulled apart and put some distance between us; but this only seemed to make us look more guilty.

The Prince stuck his nose up at us and walked in our direction; looking very much like he was in charge and was about to lay down his demands. Since he is next in line for the throne…I guess I couldn’t be too surprised he held himself in such a way.

Both the King and I share awkward glances before he clears his throat and smiles at his son, “Jihoon! I’m guessing you’re here to practice on the piano? If you would like, Joshua and I will leave here so you can play in peace.”

The beautiful omega pursed his lips and sent daggers toward me with his eyes, before directing them as his own father. “Where’s Dad?” I could only assume he meant the Empress.

“Jeonghan is probably doing work right now or busying himself with something else. Why?”

He glances between the two of us, “I was just wondering if he was aware of what you two were doing here.”

The King furrows his brows, “We were just discussing about a book. I don’t see why he must be made aware about a thing such as that.”

Woozi scoffs, “Don’t treat me like a child or that I’m dumb, I’m not Vernon. I’m very well aware of what you two were doing or about to do before I interrupted your little love session.”

The King laughs, although I did not see the humor in any of it, and instead all I wanted to do was flee. Through his chuckles the King says, “No, you very clearly are not aware of what we were doing before you got here. And there is no need for you to be so hostile.”

I could see his pale cheeks flush with anger, “I’m hostile because you have fun with your little whore where anyone can see it. At least try to hide it for our sake, for Dad’s sake. Don’t you have any shame? You say you love Dad and us, but yet you do this and wonder why we get upset?”

The King’s face darkens and I can sense the sharp acidity in his scent; hinting at his rising anger. “I love my children and your father more than anything and you should never doubt that. And you need to apologize to Joshua for calling him a whore.”

Woozi snarls, “I’m not going to apologize for something I’m not sorry for; especially when it’s the truth.”

The King growls and a chill runs up my spine and I can even see Woozi pull back a bit, “It is not true, and you need to remember your place Woozi. Joshua is above you; it does not matter if you are next to take the throne. He is the Highness to be, and therefore you obey him and respect him.”

Woozi opens his mouth to retort back but I quickly stand up which takes the both of them by surprise. “It’s okay,” I say softly. “I can see I’ve upset you Prince with my inappropriate behavior. I’m very sorry for that, and I hope you can forgive me.” I clutch the worn book very tightly between my hands and lower my head, “If the both of you don’t mind, I will excuse myself now. I’ve found I’ve grown very tired from the day’s events.”

I bow and quickly rush to the door. I can hear the King call after me, but I do not look back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, I'm really sorry it took me so long to update this!! Life has just been hectic for weeks now, plus I kind of had writers block there for a while. But I'm back now and I plan to update more frequently.
> 
> With that being said, thank you to everyone who has already subscribed to this story or commented! Your support means so much to me and I can never thank you enough!
> 
> Also, please feel free to leave a comment or a question below and I promise to respond back to you as soon as I can!! I love you all!! <3


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